Miracle
by SanoGirl
Summary: When Robin is raped and ends up pregnant, Amon's true feelings for her are revealed. Will Amon be able to accept the child? And what happens when they discover Zaizen's hand in this?
1. Chapter 1

Miracle:

Chapter 1

~*~

The pain was overwhelming and all consuming; all that surrounded and filled her was this seemingly endless torture. She could feel the blood, warm and sticky, coating her skin and trickling to the ground, but she could make no move to try and stem the tide. It was all she could do so as not to choke on her own vomit, as she rolled over and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the dirty ground.

Robin's entire body screamed out in agony at the slight movement, and she rolled onto her back, wincing and groaning. Here and there, pieces of her black dress still clung to her slim frame, but most of it lay in tatters around her, along with the crushed remains of her glasses.

Silent tears now slid down the hunter's cheeks as the full awareness of what had happened to her, washed over her in a flood. She felt so…dirty.

Mustering up the last reserves of her strength, she reached down with one hand and tried to wipe away the blood from between her legs, but there was too much, and she was too weak. With a whimper, the blonde girl let her crimson hand drop back to the ground and allowed herself to sink once more into unconsciousness.

~*~

"Hey guys…where's Robin?" Michael's voice broke the silence of early morning at the STN-J and several faces turned to him. "She's usually not late like this."

"Dunno," Sakaki shrugged. "Maybe she's sick or something."

"Yeah, there's a first time for everything," Doujima chimed in.

"I'm not so sure…" Karasuma murmured. "If she were sick, she should have called in. It's not like Robin to just skip work like this. Did she seem okay last night, Michael?"

"I thought so," the hacker replied, his fingers stilling on the black keys of his computer. "But then again, she left pretty late and I really wasn't paying too much attention." He sounded sheepish now.

With a sigh, Karasuma shook her head and turned to Amon, who was standing by the window and staring out with a blank look on his face. He had not spoken a word to anyone as of yet.

"Maybe we should go check on her," Doujima offered.

"I think Amon should, he is her partner after all." The rookie hunter turned back to his computer, not waiting for a response from any of the others.

"I still find it hard to believe she's just sick," Michael added worriedly. "Now that I think of it, she left _really_ late. Maybe something happened to her on her way home." His fingers remained suspended, motionless, above the keyboard.

"Robin's not exactly defenseless, ya know." Sakaki turned around once more and looked at the rest of the STN-J team. "She's got some pretty wicked powers and all…"

"But she still cannot control them as well as her potential suggests she could." Amon's deep voice joined the conversation for the first time that morning, and all heads swiveled to face his dark form. "Call her house, see if she's there and check with her roommate to see if she ever returned home last night." His face turned back to stare out the window once more, and Michael picked up the phone quickly.

After a few rings and a brief conversation, he set the phone back on its cradle and turned to the expectant hunters. Sadly, he shook his head, worry shining through his eyes, visible even behind the tinted glasses he wore. "She's not there, and Miss Touko said she never got back last night."

"Shit…" Sakaki breathed. "Maybe something _did_ happen to her…"

"We have to go look for her!" Doujima exclaimed, jumping up and almost knocking over her chair in the process. "She could be hurt!"

"Calm down, Yurika," Karasuma said in an even tone. "We'll go look for Robin, just wait a minute."

"No, I'll go look for Robin." Amon spoke again as he brushed by his co-workers. "You can all do as you wish here, but I will find her myself." The elevator doors swished shut behind him, hiding his tall form from the dumbfounded stares of the others.

"Wha…what?" The brunette leaned back in his chair and let out his breath with a loud whoosh. "What's gotten into him?"

"Robin is his partner, after all."

"But still…don't you think he's acting a little…strange, Miho?" Doujima's voice sounded unsure and her eyes wavered with indecision.

But the older woman just shrugged. "When Amon says he's going to do something, he's going to do it. I know he'll find Robin if that's what he' truly set out to do."

Michael, who had been silent up until this point, now turned back to the glowing monitor before him and set his fingers on the keyboard. "We can track him!"

And as the others crowded around his computer, Michael brought up a detailed map of the city, and sure enough, a little red dot was moving along the roads at a quickened pace. "See, he's following Robin's route home," the hacker explained, tracing the route with his finger. Robin's apartment was marked off in blue and her route in yellow.

"He's not gonna be able to find anything if he doesn't slow down a bit," Sakaki muttered wryly, his eyes on the digits next to the red dot.

And sure enough, as if on cue, the dot slowed and the figures next to it dropped. Michael's fingers were silent one again, and he rested his chin on his hands, waiting. The others waited also, their breathing the only sound in the room.

At last, the dot stopped completely and did not move for several long minutes. "I think he's found her," Karasuma said needlessly, and she was met with nods from all around.

~*~

Slowing the car, Amon swept his eyes over the shadowed alleyways and darkened doorways as he went, glancing back towards the road every once and a while. His hands gripped the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grasp, and jaw was clenched tight.

Suddenly, his sharp eyes caught a small flicker of color as he passed a particularly dark aisle between to buildings. Slamming on the brakes, he stopped the car and got out, slamming the door behind him. His feet carried him quickly to the entrance, eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dim light.

And when they did, he immediately wished they hadn't.

"A…mon?" Robin's unsteady voice floated out of the shadows and into his ears.

Stepping forward unsurely, he peered closer, wanting to make sure that he was not being deceived by some trick of the light.

But sure enough, what his eyes had first shown him was true. There, amongst a pile of shredded black cloth and red blood lay Robin, her legs spread apart a little and her hands lying limply at her sides. What little clothing remained on her battered body had done nothing to shield her from the night's chill and her face sported several cuts and bruises as well.

Dropping to his knees by her side, Amon took off his overcoat and swept it over her battered form in one fluid motion. She stirred a little and turned to look up at him with shame-filled eyes. "Amon…don't…don't touch me," she whispered hoarsely, trying in vain to pull away from him. "I'm dirty…"

Snorting a little, Amon only leaned down and wrapped the edges of the black coat tighter around her body. "Don't try and tell me what to do," he told her, his voice hard.

Making a small sound of protest as he lifted her in his arms, Robin felt her head falling limply against his shoulder as she was brought out into the full sunlight. Blackness once more stole over her vision as she found herself being laid in the backseat of Amon's car; she vaguely remembered a door slamming and an engine revving up before she was out completely, and once more stolen by the realm of dreams.

~*~

Hi, SanoGirl here with another WHR fic! ^.^ I've gotten a few requests from people to do an Amon/Robin story once I was finished with my Michael/Robin one. Now, I realize I'm not finished with my "Freedom" Trilogy yet, but I have a nasty habit of starting new fics before finishing the old ones. (Which is probably why I have such a back up of work to do on my 7 or so fics, but hey! That's cool.)

Anyways, reviews, comments, or feedback would be nice. Second chapter will hopefully be a little longer then this one!

~SanoGirl

P.S. Oh, and if someone is willing to beta this story for me, I would be much obliged. Please, all that I ask is that you have some basic knowledge of grammar, since mine is very poor, and a willingness to read these chapters when you get them. I like to post my work ASAP after I've finished writing it, so it would be nice if my beta could maybe get them back within, say, the next two days or so… Sorry if this sounds demanding, but if someone is up to it, I will be forever in your debt! ^-^


	2. Chapter 2

Miracle:

Chapter 2

~*~

Hands on her body woke Robin from the depths of sleep, and she sat up in panic, her heart racing. _Not again!_ Even though her head pounded at the sudden movement, her sleep-blurred eyes focused on the form kneeling by her lower body and willed the familiar flames to kindle on the person. But nothing happened.

Panicked, now that her fire had seemingly deserted her, the blonde hunter rubbed at her eyes and cleared her vision, focusing on the owner of the hands while trying to move away from the touch.

Amon glanced up at the frightened girl. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, holding up a dripping washcloth in one hand. But even so, Robin shrank from his touch, squeezing both her legs and her eyes shut, and crossing her arms over her chest as if in self-defense.

Amon watched, his face set like stone, as the girl seemed to shrink in upon herself. Never had he seen Robin like this; to him, she had never been one to hide, even if she was facing impossible odds, her stubborn nature wouldn't let her back down. Now, as his eyes rested upon the trembling figure before him, he felt as if he could almost see the broken spirit within.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he repeated again, trying to make his voice tone a little softer. The dark hunter wasn't quite sure if he succeeded or not, it had been so long since he had used such a tone. He hid his disgust.

"Please, don't touch me!" Robin exclaimed, scooting as far away from him on the couch as she could. "Just keep away from me!" A note of pure hysteria entered her voice, and Amon blinked in spite of himself.

Once again, he had never before seen the likes of this coming from Robin. The shaking, wild-eyed creature before him was not the Robin Sena he knew; this was a different person, a changed person, and something inside of him stirred at the thought. But he squashed it quickly, refusing to dwell upon such insignificant matters.

Sighing a little, but trying to mask most of his exasperation, Amon tried again, "Robin, do you really think I would do that to you? You're hurt; just allow me to-"

"No!" Blonde hair flew everywhere as she shook her head violently. "I don't need help! Amon, please, just keep your hands-" To put it mildly, she was terrified. And for the rest of her life, from that day forward, whenever she was startled by anyone's touch, dark memories flashed before her eyes and she trembled, if only for a split second.

But this time, it was his turn to cut her off. "Robin!"

Silencing immediately, she looked up at him from under the curtain of blonde hair and froze, even her trembling stopping. This was Amon after all, but still…the memory of those hands and…

Tears began to fall from her eyes, and though they fell silently, their presence did not go unnoticed. A tissue appeared in front of her eyes and Robin took it gratefully, shying away even at the slight brush of her fingers against Amon's as they took the tissue.

She wiped her eyes and tugged at the overcoat still wrapped around her, covering as much of her exposed skin as she could from, what in her mind at least, was a pair of prying eyes. Amon watched all this impassively, no emotion showing in his eyes.

"Now, will you let me continue?" he asked, keeping his voice carefully neutral. Slowly he raised the washcloth before her, and, keeping his eyes locked with hers the entire time, brought it back down to her lower body and let a few drops of the warm water trickle over her skin.

Robin's heart calmed a little as she took that in, and noticed the bowl of warm water sitting on the floor by his feet. She slumped down on the couch and relaxed her body a little, allowing the washcloth to clean away her crimson shame. Still, she shuddered violently with almost every brush of the fabric, and it took all her self-control to not try to light Amon on fire once again.

Slowly, the older hunter's hands returned to their task, and Robin watched as the water in the bowl became stained pink with her blood. "Who did this?" Amon asked, in the same, flat voice he used everyday. He sounded as if he were washing his car rather then her most private regions.

Blushing, Robin lay all the way back down on her back and tried to ignore the pain and bad memories that sparked in her mind from the contact. "I…I don't know…" she said finally, sounding as if she were in a dream. "It was dark and for some reason, my powers wouldn't work…"

Images and remnants of dark sensations flooded her head, and the blond hunter bit her lip hard to keep from screaming out at the man's touch. _It's just Amon…he's trying to help me…_ These sentences soon became a chant in her head; repeated over and over in her head, they helped to slay at least a few of the demons that tore at her mind.

"They wouldn't work?" Amon asked, trying to keep her distracted from the movement of the washcloth on her body. Upon seeing the faint line of red that appeared on her lips, he had almost shouted aloud in frustration. But remembering that she was still young, and had just been raped, he kept his temper in check, and tried his best to play the comforting helper. The role was foreign to him.

And though he would never admit it, talking also helped him to hide the slight discomfort he felt at having to do this.

"No, it was as if there was a barrier there, stopping the Craft from affecting the other person." She winced and squirmed a little as the washcloth rubbed uncomfortably, and Amon pulled his hand back, waiting until she calmed a little before continuing his ministrations.

"Was the man using Orbo?" He continued his questioning.

"…No." The answer came after several moments of silent thought. "It seemed like it, but no, he wasn't using Orbo."

Frowning a little, Amon wiped away the last bit of blood from between Robin's legs and stood up, spreading the overcoat out a little more over her bruised body. "Get some sleep," he told her, taking the water and washcloth and walking away. "I'll take you to see a doctor later."

Confused, Robin propped herself up on her elbows and stared after him. "Amon. Where are we?"

"My apartment," he answered, hesitating only for a fraction of a second before admitting that fact to her. "Now go to sleep." The door that separated the main room from the kitchen shut behind him and the Craft user flopped back on the couch with a sigh.

Trying to get more comfortable, she rolled over and cringed as a fiery pain shot through her body. A bruise on her arm cried out as she put pressure on it, and, giving up, Robin rolled over once more so she was on her back again.

Almost as if on cue, an overwhelming exhaustion set in, and the girl found her eyelids growing heavy. Fighting sleep, she tried to sweep her eyes around the room and take in her surroundings, but before her emerald orbs had gotten even halfway around the room, she was asleep.

The door to the kitchen opened softly a few moments later, and Amon stepped out, drying his hands on a towel. He strode over to the couch where Robin lay and looked down at her sleeping form. Waiting a moment to make sure she was truly asleep, he nodded to himself and turned away again, grabbing a jacket from the rack by the front door. His coat was still on Robin.

Her sleep did not seem troubled, but he suspected that was because she was so exhausted, both mentally and physically. The real pain and reality would not hit her until she was warm, safe, and rested, and then the real trial would begin. He could only hope that someone would be there to help her through it…

Glancing back once more to double check that Robin was asleep, Amon grunted and closed the door softly behind his dark form, locking it up tight. He would make sure to return before she awoke, but even so, no harm in being prepared for the worst.

Pocketing the keys, he stalked down the hallway, the wheels in his head turning furiously as he tried to make sense of this entire situation.

Robin… 

~*~

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Doujima's high-pitched whine grated on Michael's nerves so much that he stuffed his headphones in his ears and cranked up the volume on his rock music.

"I wish I had a pair of those," Karasuma muttered to herself as Sakaki's answering shout rang in her ears.

Chief Kosaka's own loud voice soon joined the fray and Karasuma knew that if it weren't for the fact that she was waiting for news from Amon, she would have left by now, regardless of regulations or time.

But as it were, she desperately wanted to know what had happened to their youngest hunter. So the only thing for the brown haired woman to do, was grit her teeth and try to focus as much as she could on the reports in front of her.

"Will you shut up?!" Kosaka roared, finally silencing what had been the beginnings of World War III.

"Thank you," Amon said, striding into the room, the absence of his overcoat obvious, as there was no material to swirl around his ankles and make the entrance more dramatic.

"Amon!" four voices exclaimed at once.

Tapping Michael on the shoulder, Sakaki jerked his head towards Amon and the scratchy sound of the too loud music was suddenly cut off. "Did you find her?!" the rookie hunter asked needlessly.

Nodding, Amon took a seat in one of the computer chairs and watched impassively as the others all did the same. "She was raped," he said plainly, once all their attention was focused on him. "I found her in an alleyway not too far from her apartment."

Mouths dropped and gasps from the other female members of the team flew sounded loud in the sudden silence. Michael let out a strangled sound. "Raped?!"

Even Chief Kosaka seemed a little shocked by Amon's abruptness. Things like this should be broken gently, and as tactfully as possible, but it seemed the leader of their team had no use for such trivial things.

"Yes." His face was unreadable and his eyes were like obsidian, blacker then the blackest night and deeper then the deepest oceans.

"Where is she now?" Doujima asked, her voice layered with worry.

"She's resting; I'm taking her to the doctor when she awakens." No one really seemed to notice how the most experienced member of their team danced around the actual question; if they did, they said nothing about it and did not question his reasons.

"What I don't understand," Michael mused, "is how someone like Robin, with powers such as hers, could allow something like this to happen. I mean, couldn't she defend herself against something as simple as an everyday rapist?" His voice rose a little as he directed his last question to Amon. "Were there any burn marks, or ashes around the spot where you found her?"

The dark haired man shook his head. "Nothing."

"That's odd…" Karasuma said.

"But I did find these." A clinking sound echoed in the room as Amon set a broken pair of glasses down on the table in front of him. "The lenses were reduced almost to a fine powder when I found them."

"What the-?" Sakaki murmured, peering at them intently. "What could have crushed the lenses like that?"

"Another witch's Craft, perhaps?" Doujima chimed in, the questioning tone now overriding her worried one.

Meanwhile, Michael was also staring at the glasses; his brow was furrowed in deep concentration and his hands lay still for once in his lap. "Something's just not right…" He trailed off. "I don't like this."

Sighing, Karasuma replied, "None of us do, but what can we do?"

"I'm going to look into this a little bit; check out the powers of other witches in the area and she if I can get some locations on some of them. There's got to be some sort of a hint as to what happened…" He turned back to his computer, mind already spinning with thoughts and ideas none of the others could hope to understand. When it came to computers and hacking, none of the other STN-J members asked too many questions, if they tried to understand his computer sense, it only confused them more.

Amon grunted and rose from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Doujima asked.

"Back to the alley where I found Robin."

"I'll come too!" Sakaki exclaimed jumping up.

"As I will," Karasuma added. "Maybe I can pick something up from the emotions they left behind…"

Nodding to show he acknowledged their presences, their leader left the STN-J building, walking purposefully to the sleek, black car parked beneath Raven's Flat. The other two hunters followed behind him, their steps just as decisive.

A minute later, the sound of three engines revving up reverberated in the concrete parking garage and was immediately followed by the sounds of screeching tires.

Rolling her eyes, Karasuma followed behind Sakaki's motorcycle, and watched as Amon's car turned up ahead of them. The sun was beginning its afternoon decent as the three stopped at the site of Robin's rape and their shadows stretched before them.

"Let's do this," Sakaki said unsurely, stepping forwards.

Karasuma followed, slipping off her glove and crouched down upon the blood-soaked ground, the wrinkling of her nose showing exactly what she thought of the entire situation.

But the moment her hand touched the ground, all thoughts of that nature were driven from her mind. A loud scream escaped her lips and she fell backwards, unconscious. Leaping forward, Sakaki caught her in his arms before she hit the pavement and held her suspended in the air.

"What the hell just happened?!"

~*~

Okay, SanoGirl here! It seems we have a lot to discuss…First off…

Thanks so much to all of you who offered to be my beta reader, but I took the first one I got! . Sorry, but all the offers were much appreciated!

Secondly, Kelli, my beta reader, thank you for taking the time to look over my stuff for me! I know I might have missed a few corrections here and there, but I wanted to get this chapter posted and only gave it a quick scan. But don't worry, all corrections will eventually get made.

Thirdly, Finchgirl…*blinks* Wow, I think that was the longest review I've ever gotten! ^.^ And all of it was constructive too! I'm glad you thought it wasn't a run-of-the-mill fan fiction, and actually gave it a chance. Believe me, everything you said made total sense, and for the most part, it was stuff I was going to include in the fic from the start. And as for the rapist being someone close to them…just you wait and see… I hope this chapter lived (somewhat at least) up to your expectations! Once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your suggestions; they were appreciated and very helpful.

And lastly, I now realize that I am treading a very fine line between a decent fic, and a shitty one. I didn't know how tough fics like these would be to write! @.@ This is going to be harder then I thought, and I can only hope and pray I live up to everyone's standards…

So feedback on this chapter would be welcomed with open arms!

~SanoGirl


	3. Chapter 3

Apologies to Kelli, my beta, but I really wanted to post this. And since it's been a few days since I sent this to her, I decided to just go ahead and let everyone read it in its imperfect form. I'll post the changes when I get them, I just felt bad about making y'all wait so long…

~*~

Miracle:

Chapter 3

~*~

"Miss Karasuma…Miss Karasuma!"

Mumbling something unintelligible, Karasuma stirred and tried to open her eyes. Immediately after succeeding, she shut them once more, for even in the dim alley, it was too bright. Her head pounded as if it had been hit with a lead weight, and her eyes felt as if they were going to burst from their sockets. Never had she had such a headache; she could barely even hear herself think over the pounding in her ears.

"Oh good, you're awake, Miss Karasuma!" Sakaki's voice floated through her cloud of pain and she moaned when the sound of his words buzzed in her ears like a million hornets. "What happened?"

Finally attempting to open her eyes again, the brunette managed to squint up at her rookie partner, looming worriedly over her. She could feel his strong arms supporting her and suddenly remembered why she had such a headache.

"I think…I think I'm going to be sick…" she whispered and clapped a hand to her mouth.

With a strangled sound, Sakaki sat her all the way up, letting her empty the contents of her stomach noisily. Amon stood nearby, watching everything impassively, his arms crossed over his chest.

Trembling a little, Karasuma sat back, then pushed away Sakaki's hands irritably. "I'm fine," she told him as the world dipped beneath her, even while sitting.

"Of course," he replied with a wry smile.

Putting her head in her hands, the woman took a few deep breaths to calm her trembles and to let the events of before refresh themselves in her aching head.

She remembered coming here with Amon and Sakaki…to the site of Robin's rape…yes, that was it. And she had touched the ground, to feel the emotions, just like any other day, and then…and then…

Eyes widening, Karasuma stared at the ground, the sensations from earlier flooding her consciousness once more. Her trembling returned as she felt herself being swept away on the tide, the emotions coursing through her body were so strong, and so varied…everything was spinning around her again.

"Miss Karasuma!"

Sakaki's shout brought her back and she blinked, finally breaking free from her imprisonment. "It's pain…like I've never felt before…" she managed to get out. "And fear…terror, but different. There's…something else to it." She stopped here and frowned. "And if that in itself weren't disturbing enough, I can also feel an anger, a sort of hatred almost, and an overwhelming sadness. The grief here is unbearable." Her head fell to her hands once again.

"Whoa, now that's confusing!" Sakaki exclaimed, sitting back on his haunches, still squatting by the older woman, in case she decided to pass out again.

"Anger?" Amon asked.

"Yes…anger…but there is a wrongness about all this that screams of deceit and betrayal. Something is not right." Her frown deepened and concentration creases appeared on her forehead.

"Not right? Huh?" Thoroughly confused, Sakaki sat down all the way and crossed his legs, scratching his head.

His head turned at the slight rustling noise, and he found Amon looking around the alleyway, searching for any trace of the rapist. His sharp eyes took in the reddish-brown bloodstains and the crushed remains of her glasses lenses. Fragments of black material were scattered all over, and yet, he saw no sign of a real struggle, no burn marks or char anywhere.

"Robin was right," he said suddenly. "She would have at least attempted to use her Craft, had she been able."

Sakaki nodded, his eyes darting between the two forms of his co-workers. "Well, what are we gonna do now?"

"Nothing," Amon replied emotionlessly. "Go back to the Flat and see what Michael has found. There is nothing else of use here."

Karasuma rose unsteadily to her feet, supported by Sakaki, who told her he would drive her back to Raven's Flat and come back for his motorcycle later. Amon swept out of the alleyway before them, his face impassive, but his eyes stormy. Karasuma was correct…something was definitely not right here.

~*~

Soft footsteps, and a door closeing awakened her, and Robin's eyes fluttered open to take in the view of a dull, dim ceiling. Her groggy mind was still flooded with images from her nightmares, and her senses were still overwhelmed by the feeling of total loss and helplessness that she had felt upon that night. Most of the soreness was gone, but an utter sense of despair and misery now took its place.

She had been raped, her virginity taken, and her body discarded like a used piece of paper. Was nothing sacred anymore?! This wasn't supposed to happen to her! Tears formed at the corners of her eyes as her swiftly awakening mind finally realized the gravity of what had happened.

The sense of dirtiness and worthlessness returned full force now, and she rolled over, burying her face in the cushion of Amon's couch. Her mind was spiraling rapidly down into the pits of despair, and she felt as if things could never be right again. It was supposed to be sacred, the first time one slept with a man; a blessed union between married people. But hers had been stolen from her by rough, uncaring hands and a deceitful, powerful person.

Powerful…yes…for she had been unable to use her Craft. Her body had failed her and so had her Craft. What was there left for her, now? Even her friends had failed her, for no one had come to her aid, no one had saved her. Amon hadn't been there…

Her stomach churned as sensations of that night washed over her in a tidal wave of pain, fear, and pure terror. Amon hadn't protected her!

Her memories would not leave her alone, no matter what she did.

Amon hadn't been there!

She was dirty now, unfit to serve God as she had done before. Amon…

"Robin."

Startled, she look up at him, wild-eyed, and instinctively curled up in a ball upon herself. "Wh-what do you want?" Just having him look at her sent chills through her body; every slight movement made her tremble as she relived her rape a thousand times over in her head.

"I'm taking you to a doctor," he replied, shrugging into his overcoat. The girl had slept for the past two days, and in that time, he had replaced his coat with a more suitable blanket. Now, as she sat up, the blanket slid from her shoulders and pooled around her waist.

Gasping, she pulled it back around her barely clothed body and watched as Amon turned and picked up a stack of folded clothing from a chair. "Put these on," he told her, setting the clothes on the small table by the couch. "Doujima sent them over for you."

Robin nodded and waited until the older hunter had left the room before she even made the slightest movement to take the clothes. Even though Amon had left, and shut the door firmly behind himself, Robin still changed beneath the security of the blanket; afraid he might walk in upon her and some part of her body would be revealed.

All the while, she fought down the tremors of revulsion that rose within her; she still felt dirty, even this long after the deed was done. _Just how long was I asleep for…?_

Fully clothed once more, Robin gathered her courage and rose from the couch, her feet carrying her to the kitchen door where Amon had exited the room. Quietly, and with great hesitance, she pushed open the oak panel and saw a table with a plate of food before her. "Eat quickly, so that we may go."

The man's voice startled her, and she immediately crossed her arms over her chest. Amon stepped away from the counter on the opposite side of the room and motioned towards the still steaming food.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Robin sat down and immediately was tempted by the smells of the breakfast that had been prepared for her. She was ravenous. "How…how long was I asleep?" she asked softly.

"Two days," Amon replied, striding across the room to stand across the table from her.

Nodding in response, Robin lifted the chopsticks to her mouth and within minutes the food was gone. Giving her a look that could be considered one of satisfaction, had Amon actually been one to show emotion, the dark man left the table and held the door open, obviously meaning for Robin to head back out into the main room.

Shuddering as her arm brushed his body when she walked by, Robin bit her lip to keep from crying out.

Sensing this, Amon made no unnecessary movement, and waited until she was fully out of his way before closing the door once again. He strode past her and out the front door, knowing she would follow without him having to tell her.

Slipping into the bright pink jacket Doujima had sent, Robin _did_ follow the taller man and waited while he closed and locked the plain wooden door of his apartment. She listened to her softer footsteps echoing his heavier ones as they descended the stairwell, presumably going to the parking garage beneath the building.

Upon discovering her hunch was correct, Robin followed Amon to his black car and slipped inside as he held the door open for her, dark eyes boring into her battered form as she settled herself into the leather seat. Slamming Robin's door, then going around and opening his own, Amon got in also and started the engine.

Soon, the two hunters were speeding down the highway towards, in Robin's mind at least, an unknown destination. In all her time in Japan, she had only had to go see a doctor once, and she had gone to the hospital; the cold that had infested her body hadn't been even half as bad as this.

About twenty minutes later, the car turned one final time and screeched to a halt in a parking lot outside a rather small, drab looking building. In a dream-like state, Robin stepped out of the car, noting to herself that all doctor's offices seemed to be boring, at least on the outside. They always came in shades of brown and gray, adorned by dark wood and metal.

Once more she fell in step slightly behind Amon, her mind still on thoughts of doctor's offices. Even that was better then thinking of…

She almost bumped into Amon's s broad back as she stopped suddenly, turning to face her, eyes unfathomably deep and dark. "Robin?" he asked, more of a question in his tone.

Shaking her head a little and rubbing her eyes, Robin glanced back up at him again.

As she did so, the dark hunter saw the clearing of her eyes and the straightening of her posture. _What the hell was that?_ Shaking his own head to rid himself of unwanted thoughts, he turned once more and pushed open the clear glass door. _What did I just do? More importantly…why?_

Disturbed even more now because of these new questions invading his mind, Amon's pace slowed a little and the creases on his brow deepened considerably.

"Mr. Amon?"

Glancing up, Amon found himself and Robin standing before the receptionist's desk. "We're here to so Dr. Nakano," he replied, recovering quickly, and somehow managing to maintain his usual emotionless tone. But just barely.

"Ok, please sit down; the doctor's a little behind schedule today, so it might be a bit of a wait before he can get to you."

Nodding, but hiding his disapproval, Amon turned sharply and strode across the brightly lit room, sitting himself down in one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs in a swirl of black fabric. Robin, however, did not sit down immediately. She wander aimlessly around the slightly crowded room, her fingertips scanning the covers of the many magazines scattered all over every available surface.

They always seemed to be out of date, and Amon had learned long ago to not even bother looking at them. Some of them seemed familiar, and he could have sworn he had read a few of them on previous visits…a few years ago.

Not that he would ever admit it, who would think the great Amon ever got sick, much less went to a doctor.

But his thoughts were interrupted as Robin sat down next to him, taking one of the very few empty chairs left in the room. Her slim hands held a magazine, and flipped open to a page that one finger had been marking. Amon's eyes slid unconsciously to the cover, and he caught a glimpse of one of the brightly colored headlines that dotted the glossy surface.

"Rape: A Survivor's Story."

A sharp intake of breath accompanied his eyes as they moved to her and she met his wondering look with an ashamed look of her own. Her eyes dropped and the shameful look on her face only seemed to intensify.

"Don't look away," Amon told her, voice a little more intense then he had intended to make it.

Her eyes flickered towards his face and he repeated his command again, in what he hoped was a gentler voice. Giving a barely perceptible nod of her head, Robin raised it a little more and tired to meet his stormy gaze head-on. A hint of what could almost be called approval kindled in Amon's eyes, before Robin's eyes had fallen again.

Frowning, the other hunter noticed her shaking shoulders and her teeth digging ridges in her bottom lip. It seemed it was going to take quite a bit more work than he had originally intended…

"Mr. Amon?" A trim, pretty nurse stepped into the noisy room, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the din of voices.

Standing up, his overcoat billowing out behind him, Amon went to her and felt, rather then saw, Robin's timid presence behind him. The three left the noise and crowd, walking down a quiet hallway and eventually entering a white, sterile-looking room. "Dr. Nakano will be with you shortly," the nurse said. And with one last glance at Amon, she left, her cheeks a little flushed.

Ignoring what the nurse had hoped he'd missed, Amon seated himself once more, this time in the chair across from the examining table, his eyes scanning the room and its instruments, noting the whiteness of it all and the almost overwhelming sterile smell.

"Amon…I'm scared…" Robin's hesitant whisper came from the direction of the table, and he turned, taking in her slender form with questioning eyes. "What if…what if-"

But before she could finish her statement, or before Amon could come up with some soothing words, the door opened and a young, tall doctor stepped into the room, running his fingers agitatedly through short, reddish-brown hair. "Mr. Amon?" he asked, extending a hand to the hunter and Seed.

Amon took it and nodded. Nakano turned and greeted Robin in much the same way, extending his hand a second time and watching as she took it slowly, her body tensing up. Hiding his quizzical look for now, the 27-year-old man washed his hands and sat down upon the rolling stool which was the only other 'chair' or sorts in the room besides Amon's.

"So," he began, spreading his hands, "what seems to be the problem?"

Glancing over at Robin, and seeing her mouth firmly shut and her teeth once again worrying her lower lip, Amon sighed and proceeded to relate the story as quickly and plainly as he could, shying at the thought of going into the particulars, most of which he did not know. Eyes widening a little, Dr. Nakano listened to the whole thing, occasionally nodding his head and turning dark brown eyes upon Robin, who refused to look at either of the two men.

He too sighed when the other man had finished and turned on his stool to face the trembling girl upon his table. One hand reached towards a box of plastic gloves sitting on the table that held the rest of his instruments and things, and the other pushed up his sleeve. "I'm sorry, Robin, but I'm going to have to take a look and make sure everything's alright. Then, we're going to have to do a few tests to confirm that you haven't contracted any STDs or that you haven't gotten pregnant.

_God forbid that you have_, the young doctor thought to himself, even as Amon hoped the same thing.

Swallowing hard, and shooting a glance at Amon, Robin stood and began to slip out of the pink jacket. With a muttered "Excuse me," the dark hunter rose and slipped from the room, closing the door firmly behind him. It would only make things worse for Robin if he remained in there while the testing was being done; it was bad enough the only doctor he had been able to schedule was a male one. No use adding insult to injury.

His feet carried him back to the waiting room, and his eyes fell upon Robin's discarded magazine. Curiosity getting the better of him, for once, he sat and flipped through the magazine until he came to the rape article, eyes scanning the words and brain taking note of everything he read.

~*~

"It's alright, Robin. I'm not going to hurt you."

Dr. Nakano's voice was kindly and soothing in her ears, and Robin thought it funny that those were the very same words Amon had said to her. But even so, she still clutched at the table sides in panic when his hands touched her, and every muscle in her body seemed to tense and spasm.

"Please, try and relax a little, if you can." The young doctor's voice was still soothing, and very patient, and Robin tried to do her best to comply with his wishes.

Chewing on her tongue to hold back both the sobs and the quiet screams that rose within her, the Craft User tried to divert her mind to other topics and other thoughts then the hands probing her rather uncomfortably. She allowed her mind to wander to Amon, and as she did so, a small smile touched her lips. Amon…

But a sudden jolt of pain shot up from her stomach and she couldn't stifle the cry this time.

"Forgive me," Dr. Nakano apologized, glancing up at her. "I should have warned you beforehand that this might hurt a little."

Nodding, Robin relaxed from her half-raised position and tried to settle herself once more. It was a long hour and a half.

~*~

"Mr. Amon?…Mr. Amon!"

Startled a little, Amon woke from his dozing state with a jump and gave Dr. Nakano a disoriented look before he remembered where he was. Standing swiftly, and doing his best to cover up his lapse in attention, the dark hunter gave the doctor an expectant look.

Motioning for Amon to follow him, the chocolate-eyed man took him back down the quiet hallway until they were standing outside of the door to Robin's room. "She's inside getting changed again," the doctor explained.

Amon nodded. "Well?"

"Oh! Forgive me!" This time it was the young doctor's turn to jump. He sighed, before raising his dark eyes to meet Amon's own. "I'm sorry, Mr. Amon…"

"Sorry for what?! What is it?!" Amon's voice took on a slightly demanding tone and his stance shifted ever so slightly into an agitated, almost battle-ready one.

"She's pregnant," Nakano replied in a soft voice. "She tested negative for STDs, but in nine months, Robin is going to be a mother."

~*~

Well, here's Chapter 3 done…And I think I overdid it a bit. @.@ Robin's reactions and emotional pain, I mean. Maybe I'm wrong, I've never been raped, so I can't be 100% sure as to what people who have been go through. I can only guess and give it my all. *sighs* Hopefully it'll be enough.

Anyways, sorry it took me a little while longer to get this chapter posted. I've been a little busy lately, and just haven't had much motivation to write. I write when the inspiration comes to me, I don't force it out, so my updates may not be periodic. But I can promise you this, I **will** finish this story, and hopefully within the next month or so. That is, if my so-called 'creative muses' decide to let me. ^_~

One last thing! For those you you just DYING to find out who did this unspeakable crime…you're going to have to wait quite a few more chapters before you find out. . SORRY! But, the way I've got the plot planned out, it'll take several more chapters before I can reveal that info. I'll take pity though, and drop this one TINY hint…it IS someone we all know, and some of us maybe love, and it IS someone close to Robin and/or Amon…With that said…I bid you Adieu.

All your feedback is appreciated and anxiously awaited.

~SanoGirl

P.S. Oh, and Finchgirl, I'm glad I was able to make you day. ^.^ Hopefully this chapter won't disappoint either.

Extra Note: Um…I'm obviously not a medical student or anything here, so I know next to nothing about the tests and things it takes to determine pregnancy and STDs and such. For the general purposes of this fic, we're going to say that since this takes place so many years in the future, that medicine has advanced SO far that they can determine these things within an hour or so. I'm sorry if the info is inaccurate, but I'm not a doctor! T.T I'm a broke writer and student, ok?! ^_~


	4. Chapter 4

Once again, the FF.net document manager did something to my scene breaks! RAWR! I'm sorry for any confusion…

Miracle:

Chapter 4

---

Both Amon and Robin remained silent for the first part of the drive back to Touko's apartment. Robin stared out the window beside her, while Amon stared out of the windshield in front of him, both seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

Every so often, however, Amon's eyes would flicker to the slender form sitting next to him and he would catch her hand straying to her lower stomach. Her facial expression did not change, but her hand would rest below her abdomen a moment, before quickly diverting itself to the leather of the seat beside her. The entire process repeated itself several times before Amon broke the silence.

"You tested negative for any STDs."

Robin nodded, but didn't reply, and the silence continued for quite some time until she eventually asked, "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you back to your apartment," Amon told her, not even bothering to look at her. The road spun itself out before them and he fixed his eyes mechanically on the dark asphalt. The young doctor and his words were still fresh in the dark hunter's mind and wouldn't allow themselves to be forgotten, not even for a moment.

And this made him slightly uneasy; being affected this much and allowing it to make him unsettled were both in themselves prospects that made his blood roar.

Flicking a lock of black hair out of his eyes, he eased up on the gas pedal, then stepped on the brake. The apartment building where Robin lived now loomed up before them and Amon turned to the young girl, watching as she seemed to mentally steel herself, then step out of the car.

She walked around the car and leaned down by Amon's window, forcing the other hunter to put it down to hear what she had to say.

"Thank you, Amon." And in a rustle of black skirts, she had turned and fled up the stairs to her apartment.

Putting the window back up, Amon leaned back against the black leather seat of his car and collected his momentarily scattered thoughts. Someplace he had wanted to go…someplace…

Sitting up abruptly, he gripped the wheel and pulled back out onto the street. Even as his thoughts drifted to what he was about to do, his body automatically took him to where he needed to go without much conscious thought. The place was familiar too him, perhaps too much so for the dark hunter and his car sped towards his mind's destination seemingly on its own.

---

The desk was smooth and cool beneath his aged fingertips and the glowing computer monitor before him was humming quietly. The modern office, with it's sleek design and nearly impenetrable security gave Zaizen a feeling of power and control, one that he couldn't get elsewhere, not even by lording over those STN-J brats he was forced to command.

Grimacing, he ran his fingertips over the desktop once again, then moved them to the control device for the computer. His fingertips tapped irritably as his eyes scanned the day old information, waiting impatiently for the arrival of one of his head scientists and the report he would bring with him.

The old man didn't have to wait much longer; footsteps amplified by the emptiness of his office sounded in his ears and his head shot up, almost eagerly. The man striding toward him was young, but one of his top scientists in the genetic field of research. There were only two other people he would have trusted more with something like this, and one of them was dead.

"Well?" he prompted impatiently, barely waiting for the man to come to a halt before his desk.

Shaking locks of red-brown hair out of his eyes, the man offered a file to the older man and watched with carefully veiled irritation as it was greedily snatched from his hands. "The tests are positive…" There was a slight air of satisfaction about the doctor's tone, as if he were taking personal pride in a job well done.

"Excellent, excellent." Zaizen's mood kept improving with every sentence he read and with every word that came from his scientist's mouth. _I hardly dared to hope the project would start off this soon, much less this well._ Aloud, he answered, "Brilliant, Dr. Nakano, brilliant. 'Project Purgatory' seems to have gotten off to a fairly good start."

He paused and glanced up at the tall young man before him. Chocolate brown eyes, that had been so warm and caring just hours earlier that day, now glittered with a gruesome sense of satisfaction as the man received praise for what was becoming his career altering project. "Keep up this standard of work and I can easily see you as Factory superintendent. You've got the brains and the leadership; keep it up."

"Thank you, sir," Umeda Nakano said, bowing his head a little to the aging Factory boss. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be getting back to my work." A small smirk crossed his handsome young face. "We've got a lot of work to do and only nine months in which to do it."

Nodding, Zaizen turned back to the papers and Nakano left, his white lab coat billowing out a little behind his slender form.

A few minutes later, the papers rustled loudly as their holder set them back down on the desk, rubbing tired eyes and stifling an undignified yawn which threatened to split his face in two. Rising with the aid of his cane, he shut off the computer and slipped the papers into his locked drawer. No use exercising a bit of caution; if those files fell into the wrong hands, his pet project would be ruined.

The Devil's Child, supposedly be a superior witch, a witch that would save her race and resurrect the so-called 'gods' of old…How ironic that one Robin Sena would be destroying the race she was supposed to save.

This thought made Takuma Zaizen smile as he left the Factory for the night, his slightly stooped form moving slowly, even with the help of the cane.

How good it would feel to know that he had saved the world from those monsters known as _Witches._

---

"Mr. Nagira isn't here at the moment, I'm afraid. You'll have to take a number if you want to see him." The secretary's sarcasm wasn't unnoticed by Amon, just ignored.

"Thank you," he replied, not really meaning it at all. He turned and left quickly, just as he had came.

Raising an eyebrow, Hana watched him go and shrugged to herself. It wasn't her problem. But what to do about Mr. Nagira…

"I'm going to get gray hair before I'm 30…" she muttered, rubbing her temples and turning back to her back-logged computer.

Amon's car now changed direction slightly, aiming towards his half-brother's private place of residence. Another place he was all too familiar with.

In all brutal honesty, there was no real love lost between the two. The opposing viewpoints of the two had wedged a rift between them that neither had tried very hard to bridge. Or wanted to. They didn't outright hate each other, but the brotherly companionship that most felt with their siblings was absent in their relationship.

Screeching to a half outside his brothers apartment complex, Amon parked his black car and got out, locking it behind him and making sure he had his extra set of keys to Nagira's apartment. His steps were quick on the uncarpeted stairs and his dark form moved swiftly down the hall to the well-known, weathered door.

Without even bothering to knock, he slipped his keys into the lock and unlocked the door, shoving it open with his shoulder when it stuck a little. He stepped into the tiny front hallway and shut the door loudly behind him, slipping off his shoes and entering the main part of the house.

He found his older half-brother half on, half off the couch, his head resting on the cushions and the rest of his body slouched on the floor. There were bags under his eyes and his clothes were wrinkled and dirty; Amon had seen murder victims that looked better then his brother. Said person started a little when Amon dropped his coat on the couch next to his head.

"Did you get drunk again?" Amon asked, faint traces of what might be called disgust lingering at the edge of his tone.

"Yeah, my head feels like shit and I can't remember a damn thing from last night..." Wiry fingers rubbed at his temples as he gave his younger half-brother an odd look. "What are you doing here anyway? I know you're not here because you wanted to see me." There was no bitterness in Nagira's voice, it was an accepted fact that neither one sought out the other for social calls, an unspoken fact, but an accepted one nonetheless.

"I need to relocate a witch," Amon told him bluntly, moving into the small kitchenette area to make tea. It was sort of a routine; more often then not, when he did make his rare visits, he found his smoking, gambling, womanizing brother drunk. And if not drunk, then with a hangover.

Nagira snorted. "This from the great witch hunter Amon. What's different about this witch that makes him, or her, so special? Why help this one and kill all the others?"

"Because this one is a child."

"Oh…I see…" Nagira answered in a slightly absent voice, probably still reminiscent from his drinking bout. "How old?"

"Newborn."

"What?! A baby?! How can you make any sort of judgment on a child not even old enough to talk?!"

Setting a cup of tea down on the small table by Nagira's couch, Amon stood over his inebriated sibling and glared. "It's not even born yet."

The brown haired man's mouth dropped. "What the hell is your game, Amon?!"

"Its mother is a witch, so it's guaranteed to have powers."

"Mmm…." came the reply as Nagira drank his tea. He swallowed, then added, "What about the father?"

"Unknown. The mother was raped."

In the process of their conversation, Amon had drifted over to one of the small windows and stood looking out upon the city below. Now, a choked sound came from behind him, and he half-turned to find Nagira giving him another slightly fuzzy, disbelieving look. "Raped?! Did you tell the police? Have they found the guy?!"

"No, I didn't tell them."

"What?!" A hint of rage crept into Nagira's voice. "I understand you have your own views about witches, but this is another issue entirely! Why didn't you tell the police!"

"Because there was nothing to tell. The STN-J examined the place where she was raped and there was no evidence left behind that would suggest anything. If the Solomon agents couldn't find anything, then the police certainly won't."

With a snort, Nagira turned away from his half-brother.

"Now would you be able to find a home for the child or not?"

"I'll look into it," Nagira promised, taking another sip of his tea. "But I'm not making any guarantees or nothing, all right? And I really think you should let the police know-"

"Fine," Amon answered, cutting him off. He grabbed his coat and gave his brother another piercing look. "Your drinking habits are out of control."

Nagira merely shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with getting drunk every now and then."

Choosing to ignore that last remark, Amon turned and left, locking the door once more behind him.

---

Gomen, gomen, gomen! I am SO sorry about the long wait! . I've been so freakishly busy lately, though. School, friends, Mother's Day, karate, projects out the arse, and numerous other things have all caught up with me…

When I begun writing this fic, I couldn't even begin to comprehend the amount of time, work, and thought that would go into this. Because of all the emotional conflicts and such, the chapters for this fic are being written at a slower rate then any of my other fics. This is also partly the reason why I am updating this fewer times then my other Witch Hunter Robin fic.

Please don't ever think I've quit writing this, because I haven't. I believe in finishing what I start, and I have the plot and ending all planned out. I just need to write them. I want to write this to the best of my ability, and to do that, I need time. Please just be patient with me, and I PROMISE, I will see this fic through until the end.

As always, comments and CONSTRUCTIVE suggestions are awaited with much anticipation! .

SanoGirl

P.S. One more thing…Amon is SO freakishly hard to keep in character and to have fall in love at the same time. I _know_ he's OOC in this chapter, and I hate to say it, but it's going to get worse. I'll do my best to keep around the Amon we all know and love, but he's going to have to change at least a little…For that reason, I apologize in advance.


	5. Chapter 5

Miracle:

Chapter 5

---

With a sigh, Nagira turned away as the door shut behind his younger half-brother. Rubbing his eyes blearily, he hauled himself up off the floor and onto the couch, a distance of a few feet stretched into a few miles by his hangover. Groaning, he finally sank into the soft, welcoming cushions and threw one arm over his eyes to block out the irritating light coming from the lamp.

He knew his drinking habits were out of control; he would just never admit it to that smug bastard Amon. It used to be that he would go out drinking, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend, but he would only come home drunk occasionally; once every few weeks maybe. But as of late, things at work had been piling up and so had Nagira's debts. With the increased amounts of stress in his life he had been driven to drink…and drink heavily.

So heavily, in fact, that this was the fourth night in a row this week he had woken up with a hangover and no memory of the night before. It was getting to be almost routine by now.

Cursing a blistering oath as the phone's shrill ring jarred his aching head, Nagira staggered to his feet, wobbled across the room, and grabbed the offending appliance off of its cradle. "What?!"

His irritable half-shout reached Hana's ears and she gave an exasperated sigh in return. "Mr. Nagira-"

"Yeah, yeah, I already know," he mumbled, cutting her off before she could get started on one of her tirades. "I'll be into work tomorrow…I've got one hell of a hangover."

The blonde secretary made a rude disapproving noise in the back of her throat. "Very well, Mr. Nagira. I'll be scheduling your appointments back-to-back so be prepared to actually work tomorrow." With that ominous statement, she hung up the phone.

Cursing some more under his breath, Nagira replaced the phone on its hook and stumbled back over to his couch. He fell onto it once more, and assumed his earlier position. "_I've got to get a new secretary…_"

---

With a yawn, Doujima rose from the desk and slipped into her jacket. "I'm leaving now," she announced to no one in particular.

"You come in late and leave early," Sakaki grumbled, throwing down the pile of reports he had been going through. "Dammit, why are you so special?"

"We only have to stay another hour so stop whining," Karasuma answered, sparing the slightly younger boy an exasperated glance.

"At least you get to go home…" Michael answered quietly, almost as if to himself.

Before the awkward silence could become too unbearable, Amon strode into the room, the slanting rays of golden sunlight lengthening his shadow on the floor. The setting sun outside burned a fiery red-gold that painted the sky and clouds around it with colors that seemed too vivid to be real, almost alive. This air of surrealism seemed to stick to Amon, surrounding him with an ethereal glow that had the others almost in awe of the sharp contrast light and dark he provided.

Ignoring his co-workers, the dark hunter crossed the room purposefully, his face blank as always, but with an air of set determination in his manner. Turning to the others, Michael raised an eyebrow, but before he could say or do anything more, Doujima blurted out, "Where's Robin?"

Not even turning around from the file cabinet he was digging through, Amon answered using as few words as possible. "At home."

"And…" Michael prodded, voice sounding strained. "Is she going to be ok?"

The silence stretched on as the STN-J members waited with baited breath, their muscles tense and their eyes locked on the tall, dark figure across the work room. His hands paused only momentarily, suspended in time above the rows of folders and papers, before continuing their work as if nothing had happened.

"She tested negative for STDs…"

An audible sigh of relief left both Michael and Doujima's mouth, and Sakaki and Karasuma leaned back in their chairs, released from the half-spell that had been holding them.

"…But she's pregnant."

Silence once more enveloped the room as several pairs of eyes widened and one or two jaws dropped. Amon couldn't be serious…could he? His tone of voice hadn't even changed. This wasn't real, it had to be a joke, a prank, some sort of scheme cooked up by the doctors and medical personnel.

But even as these crazy thoughts flew through their heads, the STN-J crew knew that if the words had left Amon's mouth, they had to be true. The dark hunter was not a person to make jokes; none of them had ever even seen him _smile_ for that matter. He would not tell them something that was not true, at least not about an issue this important to them.

Slamming the file cabinet drawer shut with a frustrated growl, Amon spun on his heel and, ignoring the four looks of shock he was receiving, seated himself in front of one of the many computers.

"Robin's only fifteen…" Doujima whispered faintly, hands lying limply in her lap. What had seemed to strike so close to the blonde girl's heart was that Robin was young—only two years younger then herself. And if someone could have a baby at fifteen, then certainly at seventeen she could have one, too.

The clicking of keys filled the short silence after that, a silence broken my Michael's quiet question. "Are you sure?"

With an irritated grunt, Amon nodded. "I took her to a licensed doctor so I'm sure of it."

"Did you inform the police?" Karasuma asked, worry tinting her voice. Despite the annoyance she usually showed in the presence of the younger hunter, she really did care for her, almost like a younger sister.

"No, why bother?" The dark hunter sounded aggravated by their questioning of him, but Michael had to press on.

"He's right," the young hacker put in. "We've already searched the place and since Witch Hunting and the use of the Craft are our expertise, why should the police find anything we didn't. And no, that's not an assumption!" he exclaimed, seeing the looks of doubt on all faces except Amon's. "Think about it. If a normal human went after Robin, she could obviously use her Craft to defend herself and get away."

"That's right…" Karasuma said slowly, the tone of her voice indicating that she was catching on. "But there were no char marks or burn marks anywhere! If she had been assaulted, she would have used her Craft right away to try and escape. Something must have been terribly wrong for her not to resort to that."

"Exactly! Which means we have to be dealing with a Witch, or, at the very least, another Craft User."

"A powerful Craft User!" Sakaki cried. "Robin doesn't take shit from anyone and her Craft isn't too shabby! That person had to be pretty powerful to be able to beat her down."

Only Doujima caught the tiny smile that stole across Karasuma's face as she glanced at Sakaki. Only the blonde haired girl caught the gleam in her eye, the gleam of amusement, and just maybe…something a little more. The other female hunter soon found herself having to hide her own smile behind one slender hand; she would have to wait until a little later to play matchmaker—right now, Robin was of the utmost importance.

"I wonder what kind of Craft it was…" Michael mused, resting his chin on his hand. His ocean blue eyes stared off into space for a moment, before turning back to Amon. "This doctor…"

Throughout the entire conversation between the other STN-J members, the dark hunter had been typing and poring over what seemed to be pages and pages of data. Endless streams of numbers and letters and pictures flashed by on the screen before his eyes, but he didn't seem to be satisfied with any of them. With one last click of the mouse, the screen went blank.

Standing up, Amon finally acknowledged Michael. "What about him?"

"Well, did he…did he get a semen sample or anything of the sort? It could be useful information to have, after all." His hesitancy and the blossoming of pink on his cheeks reminded the other people in the room that, though he may seem to be mature beyond his years, Michael was still barely sixteen and a child in the eyes of most.

Turning to go, the other man answered, "No, he-" Eyes suddenly flying wide open, Amon stopped dead in his tracks.

A little wary now, his co-workers caught their breath once again. Amon never got startled or surprised by anything, or, if he did, he never showed it to them. Truthfully, he never showed them much of any emotion, so that in itself was another surprise.

"What? What?!" Excitement and urgency now overrode the embarrassment in the hacker's voice, and he leaned forward expectantly.

"He didn't…" Whirling back around, Amon gained back his composure, and when he spoke again, the usual cool, crisp snap was back in his voice. "Michael, I want you to do a search for me on Nakano. Doctor Umeda Nakano."

"Gotcha!" came the reply.

"Check through Solomon's database, I've heard his name somewhere before and I think he has a tie to Solomon."

"To Solomon?!" Karasuma asked incredulously. "How could they possibly be involved in any of this?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm having Michael look. I want the information by tomorrow morning," he continued, addressing the younger boy once again. "Have it ready to present in the meeting room and upload it to each computer there."

"A meeting?" Doujima inquired, her voice puzzled.

"Yeah, which means you're actually going to have to be here on time for once," Sakaki answered sarcastically.

"Something's not right with that name," Amon said flatly. "Something's not right."

"And anyways, we owe it to Robin to at least _try_ and find out who raped her," Michael added, the clicking of keys underlying his voice.

Nodding, Karasuma answered, "We'll do what we can."

"Good. Tomorrow I will be bringing Robin back." And with those as his parting words, the leader of the STN-J Witch Hunting team spun around on one booted heel and left the building.

---

Chapter 5 is done!!! Consider this my end-of-school-year present to you all. . Once again, I apologize for my lack of updates. School has been nothing short of hellish (FINALS!) and I have been running all over creation. But here it is now, so enjoy!

And thanks a million to both Kelli and Finchgirl for their continued help and support. And I have a request to make of all of you readers: If or when you review, if you have any suggestions, please let me know! I love hearing other's ideas about what could add to the story, and I have used several of the ones I have gotten so far.

And yes, Parnoid, 'gomen' means 'sorry'. .

Until next time, happy reading!

-SanoGirl


	6. Chapter 6

Miracle:

Chapter 6

---

Robin woke to bright sunshine painting fire and starbursts on the insides of her eyelids. As she sat up in bed and felt the warm sunbeams slide over her pale skin, she felt as if the sunny day outside was mocking her, mocking her feelings and predicament. The bars of light that slipped through the blinds striped her skin with gold and splashed garish color over the blankets that covered her lower half.

It was only a few days ago that she had been assaulted and raped by…someone…someone with extraordinary power. What little she could recall about the incident only gave her a shadowy picture of a tall man with a strange aura about him. Something about him had felt different, as if he were not truly the person he pretended to be, as if he were wrapped in someone else's cloak.

And his power…what a fearful combination of brute strength and magic. He was a Craft User, Robin could tell that right away, but what had scared her the most was that her Craft had not responded to her frantic calls for usage. She had tried and tried multiple times throughout the stages of her rape, but nothing had ever happened. It was as if there were a barrier between her and the deep pool of the Craft inside her that kept her from accessing her power.

Shuddering and whimpering slightly, the blonde girl brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them, resting her head on her forearms. The past few days had been a whirlwind of emotionally exhausting experiences and confusing mental disturbances. The physical ache was almost gone by now, and she was glad for that, but there remained a part of her mind that still questioned things.

Should she really be alive after what had happened to her? She was a dirty, dirty person now and dirty people were the spawn of the Devil. She had been raised to believe that her entire life, raised to believe that sex was something sacred shared between a husband and wife after marriage. But her rights had been violated and she was now unsacred. Was it right that she continued to live? Should her life be forfeit to pay for the unspeakable sin that now weighed on her soul?

The girl did not blame the child, nor hate it. It wasn't the child's fault that it had been created by an illegal act and by unmarried parents. No, she could never hate an innocent being…but could she give it the love and care it would need? She guessed the love would come easy enough, for how could a mother hate her own child, but the care was another story entirely.

Silent tears fell onto her skin, where the bruises from the assault were now fading. Why had this been done to her? And who would do such a thing? Whoever her rapist had been had used her, impregnated her, and thrown her away. Only someone without a conscience would do something this terrible. But…why her? Why?

The sun still warmed her skin and Robin felt like screaming at it's mocking light. How could the world go on living as it did when she was here all alone and defiled with a baby that would soon be hers, sometime before the next year was out.

_I'm only 15! I can't have a baby!_ Disparaging thoughts such as these swirled in her frantic mind as the tears fell ever faster. _Why me, God? What have I done to deserve this? Is this some sort of punishment for a sin I committed?_ Sitting up, she slipped one hand down to rest on the still flat planes of her lower stomach. Soon, there would be a growing bulge there, visible proof of her humiliation and shame; something for the entire world to see and sneer at. There would be whispering, behind carefully raised hands, of how disgusting it was that girls her age would do those sorts of things. And somehow, somehow, the Craft User knew those words and looks would hurt worse then the physical rape ever had.

And along with the shame and humiliation would come a horrible sense of aloneness. Even now, the very first stages of an overwhelming isolation were stealing over her. After they knew what had happened, no one would want her, least of all her baby. Normal people didn't like those who were dirty and normal people only loved their own children, not one whose father was unknown.

What would the others at the STN-J think of her? Would they look at her with pity and disgust in their eyes, too? Would they also reject her and turn her away after seeing the taint that now lay on her skin. She didn't think she could stand it if Michael and the others turned away from her—they had been her only friends in a long time and the only ones she could depend on, at least at work.

Yes, it would cut her deeply to see their looks of disgust and repulsion. Maybe…maybe she just shouldn't go to work…yes, that was it. She would just stay at home, locked away in her room, where no one could see her or the proof of her shame. She could hide away here, alone, until—

A rather loud, almost rude knock at her door cut off that train of thought right there. Jumping, Robin immediately lay back down and pulled the covers over her head, curling into a ball beneath them. Was someone here to rape her again? Was she going to be attacked just as on that night? Trembling, she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut as the knocking came again, this time more persistent in sound.

The soft sound of an exasperated sigh reached her ears. "Robin? I know you're there. Answer me! Robin!"

Eyes flying open once again, Robin sat up quickly, bringing the blankets with her and using them to cover her chest. "A-Amon?" she asked, relieved that she was safe from another assault.

"I'm coming in." The warning came several seconds before the door actually opened, as if giving her time to prepare herself before another human's presence came into the room. There was no question of whether he _could_ enter or not, Amon did just what he pleased and there was no stopping him, but the blonde haired hunter was grateful for his pause.

Frowning the moment he stepped into the room, Amon's eyes immediately sought Robin's and narrowed considerably when she let hers drop, unable to meet his gaze.

She still trembled a little when his eyes fell upon her. Even though he was someone she knew and trusted, the hands that clutched the blankets too tightly to her chest were white-knuckled and shaking. Whenever he shifted his stance, as if to move one way or the other, she almost seemed to shrink back a little, as if trying to hide herself among the pillows and blankets.

"Why….why are you here?" The question came after several moments of soft silence, and its asker dreaded the answer.

"I've come to pick you up, we're going to the STN-J. There's a backlog of hunts and-"

"Work?!" The Craft User's voice held a note of panic as her head rose and twin emerald eyes flashed wild and frightened.

"Yes, work." Amon sounded exasperated again as he stepped forward, as if coming to the side of her bed, then changed his mind and stepped towards the window instead. With a grunt, he opened the blinds wide and only squinted a little when the bright sunlight flooded in. "Keep the blinds open. It'll only make things worse to sit in here in the dark." He turned back to Robin and met her eyes once again, his own gaze seeming to have softened a little so that this time, the girl felt more comfortable holding his stare.

Something flickered in the depths of those dark eyes, something hard to see that shimmered faintly in the backlight from the sun. But just as Robin leaned in a little to try and get a closer look, Amon turned away abruptly. "Get dressed and be ready in fifteen minutes." Saying no more, he left the room, closing the door none too gently behind him.

Bewildered, Robin merely stared at the door for many long moments after it had closed. Still clutching the blankets to her chest, she allowed herself to fall back onto the bed and let out her breath in a loud whoosh. Was it just her, or had she seen a little bit of…concern in his eyes, maybe?

Shaking her head and sending blonde locks flying, the witch hunter finally let her feet slip down to the floor and rose out of bed for the first time since Amon had brought her home last night. Her stomach protested loudly and she grimaced. Hopefully, he would let her have something to eat before she left with him for the STN-J office.

---

Rubbing tired eyes lightly, Amon turned away from the stove in Touko's tiny kitchen and set a plate of food on the table. Before she had rushed out the door, the brown haired woman had informed him that the pot on the stove held Robin's breakfast and that all he had to do was warm it.

In all honesty, the dark hunter was glad the woman had left; it would have only made things twice as awkward to have her around. She was a kind, smart woman, and very generous for taking Robin in, but she also had a past history with Amon that would only complicate things. For while they could never have rightly been called lovers, Amon would prefer it if things such as their past connections would remain buried and kept from Robin's knowledge. He didn't know for sure, but still…

Lost in his dark thoughts, he didn't notice the slender, blonde form until it sat down at the table near him. Pushing a lock of raven hair out of his face he grunted and told her to eat fast, that they didn't want to be late. Nodding silently, Robin ate quickly and took her dishes to the sink, rinsing them and leaving them on the counter to dry.

Approaching Amon, she stopped a few feet away and nodded to him, signaling that she was ready to go.

Moments later, she locked the front door behind the two of them and followed her co-worker down the steps and out to his black car, parked outside.

Opening the door for her, Amon took careful note of how she still shied away a little at the closeness of their bodies, even fully clothed and still a few inches away. However, he wisely said nothing and merely went around to his side of the car, keeping his face impassive, which wasn't too hard since he did exactly that nearly every day of his life.

The soft purr of the engine and the muffled sounds of traffic were the only noises to be heard in the interior of the car. Amon's eyes seemed to be dividing their time between the road and Robin, darting back and forth every other minute or so as if doing a routine check.

The dark irises took in everything they saw, carefully logging it away for future reference. He was used to this sort of thing, since he did it everyday for his job, but for some reason this seemed more…important. It took top priority over everything else, so much in fact, that most of his hunts were shoved to the back of his consciousness.

The thing he took note of most however, was her stomach and her hands. It was as if the two were magnetically attracted to each other, for every time he looked over, there they were, resting lightly upon the blond girl's lower stomach. The slim fingers moved every so often to lightly caress the spot where, in several months time, the bulge of the baby growing inside of her would be visible. Dragging his eyes away from what must have been his fifth check-up in the past two minutes, Amon grimaced.

The silence stretched on and on, filling the car with a soundlessness that was louder then any conversation could be. Getting caught in a rather large traffic jam did not help matters any, and soon the dark hunter was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.

His sidelong glance once more took in the blond Craft User and once more noticed the placement of her hands.

Surprising even himself, Amon turned back to look out at the seemingly endless line of cars in front of them and said, "You could always get an abortion, you know."

With a startled gasp, Robin's head turned sharply to stare at the dark hunter. "No!"

Turning to her and raising one eyebrow, Amon said nothing and waited for the explanation he knew would be coming.

"I could never take an innocent life! I don't care if this child is illegitimate, I could never kill it!" She turned away and stared out the window at the rapidly darkening sky. "No…I will keep it…" Her voice was distant, with a misty undertone and Amon found himself feeling almost a little prideful.

"Good," was all he said, before shifting the car's gear and speeding up as traffic began to move again. He himself really did not approve of abortion, not for religious reasons of course, but for his own personal motives, and supported the young girl's choice.

Now it was Robin's turn to give Amon a sidelong glance. She had somehow managed to choke back her startled exclamation at his praise, instead settling for a surprised look. Had he just…shown approval towards her? Had he just said something good about what she had done? This, coming from a man who, up until now, had considered her nothing more then a bother, a tagalong. Or…so it had seemed…

Feeling a little of the weight on her chest lift, Robin leaned back in the seat with the beginnings of a tiny smile dancing around the corners of her mouth. Maybe she had gotten through to him after all.

---

YES! Chapter 6 is done much, much faster then I thought it would be! This is partially due to my beta, Kelli, and to Finchgirl! So, here's my chapterly 'thank-you!' to both of them.

Ok, I received a comment on how Robin knowing she was pregnant two days after her rape is unrealistic; that it takes more time then that to figure out one is going to have a baby. My response is: I know this. As I have said before, this takes place years in the future (as shown from the show) so obviously the technology is a little more advanced. I have commented on this before, and it just makes things flow better in the story. I'm sorry if this seems unrealistic in 'real life' but obviously, this is not real life, it is fanfiction.

My only other real note for this chapter is: AMON IS GETTING WAY OUT OF HAND! I keep having to tweak his personality so as to warm him up to Robin, and it's driving me crazy! I know everyone hates it when characters are OOC but it's going to have to happen sooner or later…

Other then that, happy reading and please R&R!

SanoGirl

P.S. WhiteRabbit5, I _did_ get my penname from Rurouni Kenshin. . Sano is my favorite character besides Saitou. On the other hand, I absolutely LOVE Hana-Kimi!!! Although I have to say, my favorite character there is Nakatsu.


	7. Chapter 7

Miracle:

Chapter 7

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With a rather loud screeching of tires that was probably not necessary, Amon pulled into a parking space in the garage beneath the STN-J building. Unfastening his seatbelt, he glanced over quickly to make sure Robin was all right, (even though he knew she would be) and slid out of the black vehicle.

Robin followed right after him, pausing by the car's side after she had shut the door.

Taking a few steps towards the upper level of the building, Amon stopped when he realized that the younger hunter was not with him. Half turning around, he gave an irritated grunt and gave her a pointed look.

She remained silent and motionless for a few moments longer before venturing, "Amon, I…I'm scared. What if they-"

But he cut her question off with an exasperated sigh. "Stop worrying. Things haven't changed. Now let's go." He whirled around, this time with an air about him that demanded absolute obedience and compliance. The blonde girl followed meekly in his footsteps; she could tell that Amon was in a mood right now, and when he was, it was best to listen to him without question.

Even if she didn't believe him, didn't believe that things hadn't changed, she knew she would eventually have to face her co-workers; that fact was undeniable. But the young girl found herself wishing that she could have put it off just a little longer.

The elevator made next to no noise as it ascended towards the top of Raven's flat, where the STN-J team worked. Amon looked over to find Robin glancing listlessly at nothing, her hands clutching one another tightly. As the elevator came to its inevitable stop, Amon took the lead, then paused. Turning back, he rested one hand on Robin's shoulder, ignoring the fact that she flinched away from his light touch.

"You'll be fine," he said, voice still slightly gruff. His dark eyes bored into her emerald green ones with a curious look in them that Robin found hard to decipher.

But this time, she did not look away.

---

"Aw, what's the use?" Sakaki grumbled, flopping into a chair and putting his hands behind his head. "Who cares anymore?!"

"I do!" Karasuma exclaimed, turning upon the slightly younger boy with unbridled fury. "This is partially your fault you know! This backlog of hunts! If you would just keep your mind on work for once-"

Casually flipping the page in her magazine, Doujima hid her smirk behind one manicured hand. Their little love spats were really heating up these days.

"Well, what about Doujima?! She hardly even _bothers_ to come into work at all, and when she does, she's late!"

"Hey! When did I ever ask to be pulled into your little lover's quarrel?!" Glancing up from the newest fashions, the blonde haired girl glared at them.

"L-lover's quarrel?!" Sakaki spluttered.

Her cheeks turning pink, Karasuma turned away and said, "Well, the fact still remains that you don't come into work very often anymore, Doujima-"

"She hardly ever came in the first place," Sakaki interjected.

"-And there are now so many hunts piled up that we may not get any vacations for the rest of the year!" Karasuma continued, choosing to ignore the rookie hunter.

"Found him!" Michael cried, ending any further argument. "Found the slippery bastard!" He ripped his headphones out of his ears and tossed them down on the desk amidst the collection of candy wrappers and soda bottles. "Come check this out, guys!"

But just as the STN-J crew started to gather around his computer, the two remaining members of their team walked into the room, their steps slow but purposeful.

Eyes widening, Doujima's hand flew to her mouth as if to stop the one word that leaked out. "Robin."

---

"Well?" Zaizen's irritated voice grated harshly in the young doctor's ears; he was glad the old man only came in a few days a week, for when he wasn't here, he didn't have to be at his beck and call like this.

"Robin is scheduled for another visit in about 3 weeks," he said, making sure to keep his own intolerance hidden. No use ruining his skyrocketing career over something so trivial.

"And how is our…other test subject doing." A small smirk flitted its way across the Factory owner's face before being replaced by a more appropriate regal look. The fool did not even know he was being used as their guinea pig, and the fact that it was so easy to pull something like this over on him made it all the more amusing.

"He's doing excellent," Dr. Nakano replied. "His mind has reverted to its normal state and there seem to be no lasting effects on his body. My field team has managed to establish that he has no memory whatsoever of that night and that he feels to residual effects of guilt or anger. The drug is, in a word, _perfect_."

The chilling emphasis the young doctor placed on the word 'perfect' made Zaizen shiver with anticipation. "Wonderful. If I keep getting results like these, your promotion may come faster then I had originally planned."

Nakano inclined his head.

"As for now, continue to keep an eye on our 'guinea pig'; we don't want him getting himself into trouble, now do we? And as for Robin, I want every bit of information from her examination in my hands no more then an hour after she has been in your office."

Nakano inclined his head again, this time in understanding and acceptance.

"You may go."

The sound of the doctor's retreating footsteps echoed in Zaizen's ears loudly, before fading away into the near silence of his office. "Perfect," he whispered to himself. "Just perfect."

---

Biting her lip nervously, Robin watched as various expressions flew across the faces of her co-workers. The women looked more worried then the two boys did; Michael's face looking slightly helpless, as if he did not know what to do, and Sakaki's face flitting between looking confused and looking embarrassed.

Doujima's voice reached her ears and she focused her gaze on the other blonde girl. One hand covered her mouth, but she quickly brought it back down to her side. Karasuma stood next to her, her own eyes staring at Robin with worry in them.

Black flickered in the youngest member's vision as Amon brushed by her and entered the room fully, heading towards the meeting room. "I'll see you all in here in ten minutes."

An awkward silence ensued, in which Robin merely stood where she was, hands wringing nervously and teeth almost shredding her lip. Her head had long since fallen and her green eyes stared at the tiles on the floor. The others just looked at her, not really knowing how to express what they felt.

Tearing his eyes off Robin, Michael glanced at the others, taking it upon himself to do something and break the ice. Getting up, he walked slowly over to Robin, stopping in front of her and waiting until she raised her head before speaking.

"Welcome back," he said softly. "I missed you."

A tear slipping free of her eyes, Robin nodded and whispered back, "I missed you, too."

There had been a bond between the two since the very beginning. Not only were their ages similar, but their situations as well. Michael was stranded at the STN-J, held captive by a promise he had been forced to make to save his life. He had no family and no one to care for him; he was virtually alone in the world.

Robin was stranded in Japan, everyone she knew was back in the convent in Italy; she too had no family and no one to look after her.

Perhaps it was this similar trait that brought them together, or perhaps it was because of the time they spent in each other's company, before Amon had trusted Robin enough to take her out on hunts with him. Or maybe, it was a combination of both. But for whatever reason, Michael had been Robin's first friend, and he remained her closest to this day.

Sitting down in her usual chair next to the hacker, Robin stole a peek up at the others.

"Glad you're back, Robin," Sakaki mumbled uncomfortably, before moving away a little to sit in another one of the chairs.

"Don't mind him, Doujima said, crouching down by Robin, her spell apparently broken. The concern in her eyes almost forced another tear from Robin's eyes; these people actually cared about her…

Karasuma also crouched down, her worry-clouded eyes looking Robin up and down as if checking for any remaining signs of pain.

They honestly and truly cared…and yet…they had not been there when she was raped.

Forcefully, the Craft User pushed away the sinking feeling in her gut and smiled a little at the two women.

"Are you feeling ok?" Doujima asked, not catching the demoralizing glance Karasuma shot her way. Of all the stupid questions…

With another smile, Robin answered, "Yes, I'm fine."

But with those words, it was as if a dam had burst somewhere inside the older blonde. "Oh, Robin!" she exclaimed, her own eyes welling up. "When I thought of how I too, could be pregnant like that, and how you're younger then I am, and you have to deal with this, I-I-I just didn't know what to do! It's horrible!"

Shocked by this outburst, Robin merely stared down at Doujima, speechless. Muttering something about idiots needed to keep their mouths shut, Karasuma put an arm around the younger woman and sighed.

"What she _means_ to say is that she's glad you're back and doing ok and that she wishes she could do something about all this."

Sniffing a little, the younger girl nodded and wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief produced and offered by Sakaki.

"It's good to have you back," Michael said with a grin.

"If there's anything we can do, let us know," Karasuma added, letting her feelings and her concern show through in her voice. "We'll help you out in any way possible." She had not said much up until this point, but everything she had wanted to express shone through in her eyes and her promises.

After dealing with emotions for as long as she had, the brunette had come to appreciate the weight they carried. She had also come to realize that oftentimes, it was better to let things show by your actions or your body, rather then by your words.

"And track down the asshole that did this!" Sakaki exclaimed, the emphasis in his voice causing both Doujima and Karasuma to smile.

Nodding seriously, Robin watched as the women rose to their feet and headed in the direction of the meeting room.

"We'd better get going before Amon gets mad," Doujima said, finishing with the hanky and handing it back to Sakaki, who handled it with two fingers and stuffed it back in his pocket.

"Of course," Robin replied, standing and walking beside Michael.

"We _will_ find this man," the hacker told her in an undertone. "I'll hunt him down myself if I have to, but he will pay for what he's done."

Not sure of how to reply to this vehement statement, Robin simply nodded once more and took her seat around the table in the meeting room.

"Here we go again," Sakaki sighed as the lights dimmed. "No more vacation days until Christmas!"

"Hah!" Doujima exclaimed. "Christmas?! We'll be lucky to get off work if we're in the hospital!"

And though the bickering and the banter and the noise swirled around her in an ever escalating jumble, deep in her heart, Robin was glad to be back. Amon had been right in the end…nothing had changed.

---

Phew I seem to just keep getting worse and worse on my updates. T-T Please give me your patience and stick with this story! I swear, I'll finish it! (I'm just not making any promises on when. And the way things are going, this is shaping up to be my longest fic yet…)

Hmm…I've got mixed feelings about this chapter. I kind of liked writing the interactions between the STN-J crew, but I'm getting the feeling the plot is moving along a little too slowly…ugh…I'm hopefully going to bring in a few more twists and turns in the next chapter that will really start the plot off.

The one thing I'm _really_ having fun with (and I mean really!) is Karasuma and Sakaki. Heh-heh. evil smirk This is a new pairing for me, and I've got to say, it's becoming one of my favorites. They're just so darn cute!

And what did you guys think of Amon? I know we really don't see too much of him later on in the chapter, but how about earlier? Isn't he getting way out of hand?! I mean, he actually touched Robin! calms down a little I don't think I'll ever be happy with the way he turns out…but, oh well!

As always, reviews, suggestions, and constructive criticisms are welcome!

-SanoGirl


	8. Chapter 8

Contrary to public opinion, I'm _not_ dead! Nor have I been abducted by aliens, or swallowed by my schoolwork. . Thank you all SO much for your patience. I know it's been a while…(I've also posted this before getting it beta-ed, so I apologize for any mistakes…)

I wanted to mention how grateful I am to everyone for not reviewing this story just to say, "Update soon!" As an author, that is one of the worst things to have to put up with; it's just a lot of unnecessary pressure. And so, to thank you all, I've finally revealed who our "mystery man/rapist/guinea pig" is.

So without further ado, here's Chapter 8!

---

Miracle:

Chapter 8

---

Stealing silently on cat-like feet, Nagira glanced furtively around the office before slipping out the door. He hadn't been noticed by Hana.

Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, the overburdened law office owner strolled away slowly, breathing in a deep lungful of air; a welcome relief after the stuffy office room. He knew once Hana found out that there'd be hell to pay, but it was well worth it for an afternoon of peace and relaxation.

Or rather, it would have been worth it…if he had gotten his peace and quiet. Immediately remembering Amon's strange request the moment he reached the pachinko, Nagira sighed again, this time heavily. He had promised to look into the matter, and while duty to his younger half-brother was not high on his list of priorities, guilt stabbed him through the stomach with an iron lance at the thought of the poor mother and child.

How terrible, raped and left to deal with a baby guaranteed to have powers such as her own…horrible.

Resolve firming, the tall man stepped into the pachinko and scanned the nearly deserted place for his usual intelligence sources. He would end up trying every one of the usual spots until he found a home for the baby, and by then he was exhausted and already dreading the angry messages he knew would be waiting on his answering machine when he got home.

---

"Any problems at all today, Dr. Nakano?" Zaizen sat in his customary place behind the cold, metal desk and watched the young doctor closely from behind clasped fingers.

"Well, there seems to be one slight difficulty…"

Face switching from cool and collected to absolutely livid in less then a second, the head of the STN-J leaned forward, teeth gritting. "A…difficulty, you say? Do tell, Dr. Nakano."

Utterly unfazed, even in the face of such anger and power, the copper haired man gathered his thoughts, and mentally steeled himself for the storm brewing on the horizon. "Our test subject seems to be regaining at least a little of his memory, or so it would appear. Today, my spies reported him to have been seen contacting nearly everyone of his business associates, looking for a home for an infant witch, not even born yet."

"What?" The older man's voice was calm, but with an underlying tone of steel.

"Our test subject, Mr. Nagira if you will, runs a witch relocation service. He was seen today with informants, searching out a home willing to accept an infant."

"Impossible!" The raised voice accompanied by the unexpected slam of a hand on the desk made Dr. Nakano flinch slightly. "You said the drug was perfect!"

"And at the time, I thought it was so. Currently, my agents are delving into an even deeper investigation, trying to see what other connections he had, and if it's possible he could have found out about the rape and the baby from another source."

Finally sitting back in his chair, Zaizen appeared to relax a little, but not much. Pulling out one of his foul-smelling cigars, he stared at it a long time before lighting and turning back to the other man. "If Nagira recovers his memory, even the slightest bit, you are to kill him. Do I make myself clear? If any information about this whatsoever leaks out, we're done for, and you as well."

Nodding, his face tight-lipped and drawn, Dr. Nakano excused himself, glad to be out of the presence of his boss. Those cigars were so foul. By now, the employees the worked under and above Nakano were used to Zaizen's temper and behavior. Most had witnessed such outbursts personally. So no longer did the young man worry about the old man's temper, he worried more about the stench of his rotten cigars.

Pushing such frivolous thoughts out of his mind, the young doctor entered the temporary information center that had been set up in one of the underground labs. The brown-eyed man knew took a few deep breathes and sat himself down in front of one of the many computer screens in the room. He may not have worried about Zaizen's temper tantrums, but he did worry about his job, so he wanted to get straight to work. It was going to be a long night.

---

"Good work today, Sakaki," Karasuma said to her co-worker as she left work for the day.

"You too Miss Karasuma, do you need a ride home?"

As the other members of the STN-J drifted off towards their homes at the end of a long workday, Robin stood up from her seat beside Michael and stretched a little, muscles sore from having sat so long.

She had been back at work for three days now, and yet she had done nothing but paperwork. Amon had all but disappeared, leaving Karasuma and Sakaki as the only full team left. Doujima, as per usual, had not shown her face much. Sakaki claimed to have seen her sitting in Harry's drinking tea while he passed by on a hunt.

Michael glanced up, taking out his headphones. "You going home?"

Robin nodded, her motions slow as she gathered her coat. She did not want to go home…not after what had happened last time. It was evening once again and though she tried not to show it, the young girl was terrified of leaving the safety of the STN-J building. Scenes of her rape flashed before her eyes whenever the thought of going home by herself even entered her head.

"I'll take you home, Robin," Sakaki called out, after confirming that his partner did not need a ride. "I need to stop by the store anyway to pick up something to eat."

A wave of crushing relief washed through the blonde haired girl, as the older boy said goodbye to Michael and headed for the elevator. Following quickly, Robin called her goodbye over one shoulder and slipped into her borrowed coat.

A wry smile stole over the other hunter's face as the elevator descended. "Doujima's," he asked, more of a statement then a question.

Smiling back, Robin nodded and thanked Sakaki for his offer of a ride home. Shoving locks of messy brown hair out of his eyes, the rookie shook his head. "Anytime. If you ever need a ride home, don't hesitate to ask."

It had taken Sakaki a while to warm up as the others did; the young rookie hunter hadn't seemed to know how to react to all of this. Because he was male, and because he didn't share the same bond with Robin as Michael or Amon did, he had been a little confused at first, not sure of how to treat Robin.

But now, after a few days, he had relaxed quite a bit and seemed to be back to his normal self…other then the fact that he treated Robin a little more gently now then usual, as if she would shatter like glass at the slightest incident.

They exited the elevator, Robin still shrinking away from Sakaki's slender body as she brushed by him; it was pure instinct by now, she did not even have to think about it anymore. It was just the way things were.

As with Amon, this avoidance of contact did not escape Sakaki's radar. But, in an uncharacteristic show of prudence, he too decided to keep his mouth shut. It was not his job to judge Robin and bring up painful things. It was his job to help her get through this. He didn't need something else to recreate the awkward situation from earlier this week.

Handing Robin his helmet, Sakaki mounted his bike and waited for Robin to do the same behind him. He pretended not to notice as she stood there for about a minute or so, unsure if she wanted to get this close to him. But after a while, he turned and looked her right in the eyes, watching as her own fell to the pavement beneath their feet.

"Robin…" he said quietly, watching as she slowly moved towards him, eventually sitting on the motorcycle and gingerly holding onto him for balance.

"Thank you Sakaki," she said once again.

The young rookie only nodded his head before gunning the engine and making his way out into the rapidly falling dusk.

---

Stealing stealthily through the night, the black cloaked figure slipped in and out of shadows, his grace mimicking that of a cat's. His destination was a lone, darkened doorway, which he opened with practiced ease.

A few yards away, another dark figure watched him with goggles that gleamed in the faint light coming from a lone streetlight. He made a mental note to himself, then turned and slunk away into the darkness, heading towards the outskirts of the city.

Ascending the steps as quietly as he had come to the building, Amon finally reached his destination and unlocked the door. Opening it without hesitation or waiting for an answer, he entered the dim room and glanced around.

The light on the phone was blinking, meaning there was at least one message waiting for his older brother. And by the look of things, meaning the absence of light and warmth, it seemed as if he wasn't home yet.

Heaving an irritated sigh, Amon flicked on a few lights, then sat himself down on Nagira's couch and waited impatiently for his older half-brother to get back.

---

Yawning so widely his ears popped, Nagira tiredly opened the door to his apartment, the fact that it was unlocked not even registering in his fuzzy mind. Something had been nagging at him ever since he had started this search. A little tugging at the back of his mind accompanied by a nauseating feeling in the pit of his stomach had started early on and steadily grown worse by the hour. All he wanted now was a stiff drink and then bed; he'd worry about work and Hana tomorrow.

Bright light greeted his dilated pupils as the door swung open and he blinked in pain, throwing a hand up in front of his face.

"You're back," a flat voice greeted him.

Chuckling dryly, Nagira shut the door behind him and let his hand fall, blinking rapidly as his eyes fought to adjust from the darkness outside. "I should have known it would be you…" Walking over to a little table by the couch he grabbed a large glass bottle and poured himself a drink. "You always seem to appear when I'm feeling like shit."

Wrinkling his forehead a little in disgust, Amon stood up and moved away, his eyes wandering aimlessly around the tiny room. "Have you found a home yet?"

Several loud gulps echoed in the room before Nagira answered, his voice sounding thick and pained. "Damn…that only made it worse…" Groaning he let himself fall back onto the couch before answering the younger man's question. "Yeah, several possibilities in fact. I'll get some more info on them later and get it to you."

"Good," Amon replied, watching impassively as his brother rubbed at his temples and took deep breaths in an attempt to stave off the rising wave of nausea. "I told you that you were going to kill yourself someday with that stuff."

"No," Nagira answered, voice more heavily layered with pain now. "I just…" Eyes flying wide open, he staggered to his feet and practically ran from the room, the sound of retching and a flushing toilet floating out to meet Amon's ears a few moments later.

Remaining where he was, with the same blank expression on his face, Amon waited for the drunkard to reappear.

When he did not, Amon grunted in exasperation and went back into the small bathroom, finding the older man curled on his side on the floor, clutching his stomach.

"God…" he managed to gasp, before the world went dark.

---

Wow…it's been months, hasn't it? Thank you so so much to those of you who have stuck with this story and haven't given up on it. I _told_ you I would finish it, didn't I?

Other then that, my only excuse is…I've been busy! And yes I know it's lame! And yes I know I use that excuse all the time! And yes I know its effectiveness is wearing off! But, it's the truth, sad as it may be. I'm really going to try a lot harder now to keep up with this and possibly even update my other fics! (which are worse off then this one, believe it or not…)

My only other note is that I would love your feedback on the position of Nagira as Robin's rapist. I mean, he raped his younger brother's soon-to-be gf/lover! Technically, in a hypothetical situation, if Amon married Robin, the kid would be his nephew! I've got a couple more twist ready to be worked in later on in the story, if this wasn't exactly what you were hoping for…

Again, thank you so much!

-SanoGirl


	9. Interlude

Ok, first off, you're all probably expecting the next chapter in the story…Sorry! I just felt like taking a break from all the tension and emotions of the story and doing a sort of interlude that has nothing to do with anything, really. It's just my attempt at a little relief from everything.

So if you're looking for the serious continuation of the 'Miracle' storyline, then I suggest you skip over this and just wait another week or so for the next chapter.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

---

Miracle:

Interlude

---

Christmas at the STN-J

Yawning loudly, Sakaki sauntered into the STN-J building as he did every other morning. But this morning, something was different. Something brushed his head as he entered the work room and then something else proceeded to hit him in the face.

"What the-?!" he shouted, clawing the green stuffs away from him mouth and eyes. Looking up, he saw Doujima standing on a ladder a few feet away, staring at him. "Sorry about that…" she said, not sounding very sorry at all.

Glancing at the mass of red berries and green leaves in his hands, Sakaki looked back up and saw that the entire ceiling of the room was draped with it. "Doujima?! What the heck?!"

"It's Christmas Eve, and I thought we needed some Christmas decorations--"

"and some holiday spirit," Michael cut in, coming into the room and looking quite annoyed.

Raising an eyebrow, the rookie hunter looked back at the blonde, who shrugged and continued hanging her garland.

"I've been hearing the same things all morning," the hacker explained, sitting down at his computer, which was festooned with sprigs of holly and a hula dancing Santa.

"Nice," came the dry reply as the other boy slumped in a chair, afraid to look at the rest of the room.

Karasuma entered the room next, almost meeting the same fate as her younger partner when another loop of garland slipped free and came swinging down. Ducking it, irritated, the older woman gave the room a once over and sighed. "Doujima…"

"What?!"

"Don't you think the dancing polar bear statues in the corner are a little much?"

"Just how much crap did you cram into this place?!" Sakaki shouted, unable to keep his eyes off the room any longer.

"Three cars full," Michael supplied. "It took her almost an hour just to get all thestuff here."

An identical reaction, with much more shouting and blood vessel bursting, was received from Chief Kosaka when he came to work. "And what is this sitting on my desk?!"

"Sorry!" Doujima called out, almost finished hanging her garland. "But the karaoke Santa just wouldn't fit anywhere else!"

Looking more and more afraid as time went by, Sakaki began edging towards the door, intent of getting out of there before his brains were turned to mush. But before he could escape, Robin and Amon walked into the room at about the same time Zaizen came down from his office.

Cringing and waiting for the outburst to come, the hacker boy nearly died of shock when an almost feminine squeal issued forth from their boss's mouth.

"OH MY GOSH! I JUST LOOVE WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH THE PLACE!"

Amon's eyes widened in disgust as Zaizen rushed over to Doujima, his eyes reflecting the glow of the millions of Christmas lights strung around the room.

Robin merely smiled, and took her usual place beside Michael, who was busy trying to pry the grass-skirted Santa off of the middle of his monitor screen.

"Oh, and I've set up a table with some Christmas cookies and drinks over there," Doujima called, pointing to a table in the corner by the dancing polar bears.

Immediately Amon rushed over, going straight for the punch bowl. "It's spiked!" Doujima warned, before going back to her discussion of interior design with Zaizen.

Several hours and bowls of punch later, Amon found himself feeling warm and content. He glanced around the office at his co-workers and felt a sense of joy and happiness that he was able to work with them everyday. Staggering to his feet, he somehow managed to stand up on top of a chair and spread his arms wide.

Turning to face him, the other STN-J workers stared as he began to sing the words of a very well-known and touching Christmas carol.

"Grandma got run over by a reindeer!"

Soon the drunk was joined by Michael and then Doujima and Kosaka; Sakaki would have joined their little choir, but for the fact that he was laughing so hard he nearly wet himself. Karasuma was busy stuffing her face full of cookies while no one was looking, and shoving the rest in her coat pockets for later.

Zaizen was complimenting Doujima on her choice of a Christmas dress as they flipped through one of her many fashion magazines and nibbled on red and green crumpets with cranberry jelly.

After the last rousing chorus of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer", Amon lurched his way down from the chair and over to Karasuma, intent on drinking even more of the punch.

Subsequent to several failed attempts at pouring himself a drink, Amon decided that too much of the delicious drink was going to waste on the floor (and Karasuma's clothes), and he instead dunked his head into the bowl and began inhaling it.

Meanwhile, Michael's latest fascination was the karaoke Santa, sitting unnoticed until now on Kosaka's desk. The man and his assistant were too busy sipping their mint tea and watching a very drunk Amon drown himself in the holiday punch to notice.

All of a sudden, loud, scratchy music blared forth from the cheap doll and Santa began to move from side to side with the beat of the song.

"Please, Daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas…"

"Oh I love this song!" Zaizen exclaimed, jumping up. He joined Michael by the toy and soon began to mimic the jerky dance movements. Howling, the hacker fell to the floor in tears and even Robin cracked a smile and a few soft giggles.

Looking up from his punch, Amon peered out from the curtain of soggy hair in front of his eyes and stared at his boss. Reeling dangerously, he too began to dance…only doing to movements to the Macarena instead.

This time, it was Doujima's turn to howl and she too found herself nearly peeing her pants as she watched the gay man and the drunken man dance to the karaoke Santa.

_This is good…_Karasuma thought to herself. _Now I can take even more cookies without them noticing!_

Her cheeks bulging like a chipmunk's, the older woman cleaned off the table, even taking the last can of 'Who Hash'. She then turned to the punch bowl, and finding it empty, she then discovered the red puddle beneath her feet.

A trail of the punch led away from the bowl and out onto the floor, where Amon and Zaizen were finishing the song with a loud HEY! and some ridiculous bows. Karasuma was convinced that Sakaki really _had_ wet himself laughing, until she saw the liquid under him was red, and when followed back to the source, was dripping from Amon's hair.

A loud squeal was heard and everyone whipped around to look at the tree where Robin was standing, holding a package in her hands above her head. "I got a present!" she squealed again, jumping up and down much like a 4-year-old, her blonde pigtails bouncing with every jump.

"Presents?!" Zaizen cried, rushing over.

"Oh, free stuff? Where?" Sakaki followed too.

The group then proceeded to cluster around the bedecked pine tree (which on closer inspection by Michael turned out to be a fake one stolen from the corner convenience store) and sift through the large pile of gifts (most of these were stolen too).

Reeking of sake, Amon tried to unwrap his bright blue box, but was having problems account of his high intoxication level. The electric blue color of the wrapping paper wasn't doing anything to help the situation, either, hurting his already alcohol-fuzzed eyes even worse.

Giggling, Doujima reached over and unwrapped it for him, placing the gift in his hands. Dazedly, the inebriated Hunter held the fuzzy pink and white object up before his eyes and squinted at it. "Issss…" he slurred.

"IT'S LINGERIE?!" Sakaki yelled, tearing the paper off of his own gift. Moments later, he too held up a skimpy, fur trimmed bra, colored a most disgusting shade of canary yellow with pink polka dots.

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Michael opened his warily, closing his eyes as he reached into the box and yanked out…

A black silk thong.

Karasuma discovered she had a bra much like Sakaki's, only lime green with purple stripes and Robin received a pair of very un-nun-like panties with matching garters.

The only person who really seemed to like their gift was Zaizen, who was ohh-ing and ahh-ing over his matching puce thong and underwire bra.

Doujima was also taking the paper off of a gift, the tag of which read:

To: Me

From: Me

Merry Christmas Me!

She tittered over her own lingerie with Zaizen and the two began comparing fabrics and sizes and companies.

Tossing aside a pair of underwear printed with the Playboy Bunny, Kosaka chugged the last of his tea, not realizing a mischievous Michael had spiked it with the sake used in the punch. As the numbing effects of the alcohol swept over him, he began to bawl like a baby and collapsed onto Robin's shoulder.

The young witch turned from examining her garters and patted the Chief on the top of his bald head.

"I-I've never told anyone this…but I feel I have to get it off my chest…" The tears were streaming down the balding man's face now at an alarmingly fast rate, and Michael, tossing aside his thong, leaned in closer. "Yes, yes…go on!"

The chief's voice dropped to a whisper. "My teddy bear's name is Jinkle Winkles…"

Dumfounded, the teenaged hacker blinked, and glanced up at Robin, who had already lost interest with both the chief and the garters, and was busy lighting the pine and cinnamon scented candles Doujima had scattered around the room.

Not quite sure what to do, the hacker answered back, "Well if it makes you feel any better…I had a teddy bear when I was 3 and her name was Bertha."

"Yous…mil' naame…Berthuh?" Amon slurred, his barely functioning ears picking out bits and pieces of what was said.

"Translation, please?" Karasuma asked distastefully around a mouthful of peanut blossom cookie.

"Michael's middle name is Bertha?!" Doujima shrieked.

Face going white, the hacker whispered, "H-how did you know?"

Choking on her cookies, Karasuma doubled over, turning quite purple in the face. Laughing her head off, Doujima whacked her on the back a few times, telling her between peals of laughter that purple was the wrong color for the season.

After several failed attempts at the Heimlich on Doujima's part, Robin took over surprising them all by both her knowledge of first aid and by her ability to lift the taller woman off the floor with every thrust.

At the looks she was receiving from Michael, she answered, "I lift weights with Nagira every weekend. It really helps."

Sidling away with a nervous look in his eyes, Sakaki ran smack into something warm and fuzzy. "What the-?!" Turning to look, he found himself face-to-face with a pair of large doe-brown eyes and a very wet nose.

"A REINDEER?!" Karasuma yelled, wincing at her sore ribs.

"W-where…how…you…" Sakaki spluttered, now of the receiving end of a very slobbery reindeer kiss.

"Awww, he likes you," Doujima cooed.

The reindeer, whose name happened to be Jelly Bean, promptly left a rather smelly present on the floor.

"Why is there a reindeer in my building?!" Zaizen yelped, leaping up from the floor and cowering behind Kosaka.

"I borrowed him from the zoo! I thought it would be…er…festive!"

"You mean, like how you borrowed all this lingerie?" Michael asked wryly. Glancing over, he found Robin slipping hers surreptitiously into the folds of her long black overcoat. _The nuns aren't going to be too happy about that…_

Tossing her hair and choosing to ignore the hacker, the blonde girl got up and went over to the reindeer, petting and fussing over him needlessly.

Jelly Bean, however, was enjoying the attention and soon left a nice puddle to go with his other present. "Yellow doesn't match the season," was Zaizen's only comment.

And as the day drew to a close and the members of the STN-J bundled up in their overcoats of varying shades of black and their jackets of pink and turquoise, they took one last look around the room at the remnants of their little holiday party.

The reindeer was gone, having jumped out the window and flown away. ("The cops aren't going to be too happy with that carcass on the sidewalk…" Kosaka had commented.) Karaoke Santa was lying in a heap of wires and reindeer dung on the floor. ("He wouldn't play Jingle Bells!" protested a still drunk Amon.) And the table where the food and drinks had been was completely bare. ("Where's my last can of Who Hash?!" Doujima shrieked.)

Wisely deciding to save the clean up for Michael to do, since he would be there over the holidays, the rest of the crew said goodbye and their 'Merry Christmas!' and left, Sakaki dragging one of the polar bear statues behind him and Robin trailing yards of garland from where she had wrapped them around her pigtails.

Sadly, Michael stood at the window and watched as his co-workers left, Amon tied to the roof of Karasuma's car with some of Robin's garland, as he was still too drunk to drive himself home. Sighing, the hacker turned from the window and glanced shiftily around the room.

Double checking to make sure no one else was there, he yanked out the rest of the sake the Doujima had left, and giggled over his thong. This was going to be a fun vacation.

---

Oh…boy…am I gonna get flamed for this one. But oh well. I amused myself whilst writing it, so I guess that's all that counts. But really, I'm going to try and get the next _real_ chapter of 'Miracle' out for you guys, hopefully sometime before the holidays.

I would LOVE to know what you guys thought, even if it's too say, "I was scared so much by this I crapped my pants! DON'T DO THIS TO ME AGAIN!" Every once and a while, even I like to take a break and just goof off.

But anyway, I hope this brought you a little amusement and some holiday cheer. Merry Christmas!

-SanoGirl

And yes, "Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas" is a _real_ song, sung by John Denver on one of his Christmas albums. We unfortunately own that album and that is where I discovered this terrible song.


	10. Chapter 9

Miracle:

Chapter 9

---

The door opened with a soft squeak and Amon stepped into the darkened room with an annoyed look on his usually stony face. Not that he cared if the person sleeping inside was awakened, it was just that the squeaking of the slightly rusty hinges was irritating.

Nagira lay sprawled out on the floor before him, face looking pale and drawn. Gritting his teeth a little, Amon flicked on the lights and dragged his comatose brother into a sitting position, leaning against the couch. This was the third day in a row he had found the older man like this.

And yet, each time he found Nagira, the man did not have a hangover and neither did he complain of one. It was always a nauseous feeling that rose from the pits of his stomach to grip his entire being in iron jaws. A cold sweat would break out on the man's skin and his arms and legs would shake. Not only that, but he complained of strange dreams and half formed images that haunted his sleep like demons.

Now, the shadows of those nightmares showed in his eyes as they fluttered open, a small groan issuing forth as they did so.

Moving away, Amon opened the dusty blinds at the windows. While to outsiders, it may have seemed that the dark hunter was playing the role of a dutiful brother; both siblings knew he only came because Nagira was his only source of information for Robin's baby. They both knew, had she not been a factor, none of this would be happening. But as with everything else in their relationship, it was a mutual agreement between them, no brotherly love lost, but none gained either.

"Shit…not again…." the older man muttered, clutching his head. "They keep getting worse every night…"

Grunting in response, Amon made as if to head for the door. "Go to a doctor," he stated flatly.

"No…" came the bleary response. "I don't think he can help me…it's as if…as if I'm forgetting something I should remember. Something terrible. I see it every night when I dream and it nearly keeps me awake with its horror…yet, I never remember it when I wake up."

Amon snorted. "Sounds the crazed ravings of a drunkard to me."

"I haven't touched the stuff in days. I'm surprisingly sober." Staggering to his feet, the lanky man stretched and rubbed at his stomach with one hand. "I think I'll skip work today…"

Eyes emotionless, Amon merely nodded and left the dingy apartment, shutting the door firmly behind him. It did not matter to him if his half brother did not go to work; all he cared about was finding a home for Robin's baby. The tall hunter automatically assumed she would want to give it up; he did not even pause for a moment to wonder about her wanting to keep it. It was out of the question in his mind.

---

The experimental lab that Dr. Nakano headed was in a state of panic. If they did not do something fast, their project of a lifetime was about to blow up in their faces. Men in white lab coats scurried in all directions, fearing the wrath of the young doctor, but fearing the wrath of Zaizen even more.

Pacing along the cold steel floor, the young doctor hid his frustration and rage behind a mask of cool professionalism. He would not let this deter him and ruin what he had worked on for years. This was his project! The ultimate opportunity!

Another doctor approached him timidly, waiting until chocolate eyes rose to his form before speaking. "Apparently things haven't changed…in fact, they're getting worse…"

Silence…then…

"But how could this happen?!" Two fists slammed down on the table, causing not only the people sitting at it to jump, but the information on the computer screens as well. Shocked, the other doctor took a step back.

"We did the best we could, sir! The drug should have been perfect!"

"Well it's obviously not! He's beginning to remember!"

Mustering up his courage, a young intern piped up, "And it's affecting his physical health as well, sir!"

This seemed to be the last straw for the young project head, and he stormed over to the computer in a rage more fierce than any hurricane. The intern pointed to some information being displayed on his screen and conversed in low terms with Dr. Nakano, who barely managed to keep his own voice below a bellowing thunder.

"Nausea?! Nightmares?! What the hell is all of this?!" he waved one long-fingered hand at the computer screen, nearly smacking the intern in the process.

"W-we're not sure, sir, but we're working on it! Already, we have field teams--"

"I don't want to hear 'We're working on it!' I want results! And I want them soon or you'll be the ones with nightmares!"

He stormed out of the room, snarling to himself. That drug should have been perfect! He had worked on that for years, wasting the prime of his life in a chilly, metallic lab trying to gain the promotion of a lifetime. If things went wrong at this stage of the game…well…the prime of his life would also be the end of his life.

It had taken many long hours of testing to finally come up with the perfect mix of drugs and stimulants to control the complex being that was the human body. By hijacking the nervous system and the subject's brain waves simultaneously, the drug literally took over a person's body, giving the controller absolute power.

And that is where the most ingenious part of his invention came in. The controller took the drug too, but instead of the 'hijacking drug' they took the 'controlling' drug. This drug was linked to the other in such a way that they allowed the controller to tell the person on the receiving end what to do. It linked their brainwaves, putting them on the same wavelength so to speak turning the thoughts of the controller into the actions of the controlled.

It was, to put it mildly, brilliant. And the subject would have no memory of the incident afterwards, for it wasn't really their brain doing the thinking. Or, that was how it _should_ have been.

But what could have gone wrong?! Slamming the door to his private office roughly, the young doctor seated himself behind the desk and put his head in his hands, running fingers through the long reddish locks that fell around his ears.

If that man remembered…it would spell the end of everything for his career.

---

"But I feel like I'm not being very much of a help…"

"Well, even if you aren't, you technically can't do anything until Amon gets back. Besides, Sakaki and I have managed the hunts fine enough by ourselves. Just wait a little more, I'm sure he'll show up soon." Karasuma offered the younger girl a reassuring smile and moved away to check something Michael had just called up on his computer screen.

"It's ok Robin," Sakaki said. "You really have helped us with all that paperwork. It saves us from working overtime, since most of our time at work is spent on the hunts now." He gave her a grin, then muttered, "It would also help if Doujima would show up once and a while…"

The youngest Hunter smiled a little, and even laughed quietly when Karasuma rolled her eyes at him and practically dragged him out the door on their latest hunt.

"Well, aren't they just the cutest thing? Puppy love!" Doujima commented, walking into the room as they left. The glare she received from Sakaki could have melted stone.

"Hello," Robin replied softly, sitting down and sifting through her pile of paperwork for the day. Her heart fell when she took note of the amount; it looked as if she were going to be stuck inside the building for another whole day.

Two pairs of hands suddenly reached down, each taking a section of the papers. She looked up to see Michael grinning down at her while Doujima took the chair next to her. "If we split it up, we'll be done in no time and I can go home early," said Doujima by way of explanation.

"She really means to say she'd be glad to help," Michael told Robin, taking the chair on her other side.

Nodding, Robin was reminded of how lucky she was to have Michael as her friend. She thought it was bad being stuck here all day with paperwork, but he was stuck here for the rest of his life. Helping her meant she could have a break, but there would never be one for him.

Chewing on her lip, a habit she had developed as of late, the Hunter resigned herself to the work, glad for the other two people in the room with her. She hated being alone.

---

Wow! Two—count them—two updates in one day! I hope you all enjoyed the little interlude I tossed in there…heh. But anyway, I had this chapter sitting half finished on my laptop, I just needed to add a little bit here and there and tweak it a little bit.

So here's chapter 9…I don't like it. I need to start moving the plot along; this was more of a lull in between the action, so to speak. I just felt that nothing really interesting happened in this chapter, so I promise something _really_ good for next time.

Please R&R as always!

-SanoGirl


	11. Chapter 10

Miracle:

Chapter 10

---

"I'll see you tomorrow, Robin."

"Thank you, Sakaki." The roaring of the rookie hunter's motorcycle faded in her ears as she watched it drive off. This was the third night in a row Sakaki had driven her home…and she was grateful. The only thing she dreaded now more then being alone was walking or driving home along this street. Every time she passed _the alley_, the blonde hunter shuddered; she couldn't help it, albeit Sakaki was with her.

Climbing the stairs quickly, she slipped into Touko's apartment and found the older woman gone. Lately she had been gone a lot, working overtime it seemed, and it pained the Hunter. Her fear of isolation always reared its ugly head the worst when she came home to an empty apartment.

After a small dinner and a long bath, the youngest Hunter climbed into bed, but found she could not sleep. With a sigh she sat up and turned up the light; by now, Robin was used to sleepless nights. Even with the light on all night, oftentimes she found she could not sleep, and if she did, nightmares haunted what little rest she found.

Not to mention that it was at these darkest hours of the night when doubts came to plague her mind. Doubts that worried at her heart and soul, picked at her beliefs and slowly wore them away. So great terrible were these nighttime visits that Robin found her very essence slowly being worn away as she was forced to take another look at her life and those in it.

Now, her mind found itself besieged by a voice that was not entirely her own. The little voice pelted her questions, with misgivings, causing her to wonder at the very foundations of her existence.

She had even begun to doubt her comrades. Did they really care for her? '_If they really cared, they would have come to your aid…_' The voice leered. '_Even Amon wasn't there to save you…even he left you on your own, to be destroyed like this…_'

On and on, all night long, these games of question and answer would play themselves over in her mind. Amon's name was replaced by Michael's and Michael's by Sakaki's. Her mind ran itself ragged in a never-ending circle of doubts and misgivings that slowly led to a feeling of betrayal.

Why hadn't they come to save her? They _claimed_ to care…so why didn't they help her?! '_That's right…_' the little voice continued in a mocking voice. '_If it wasn't for them…you wouldn't be like this…they're as much to blame as him…_'

_Him_…Her body would tremble at the very thought of him…his groping fingers and indomitable strength…the feeling of helplessness as her Craft refused to come. Even the fiery power that resided deep within had failed her. In the end…she had failed herself, and that was the biggest let down of all. Not only had her friends and Amon failed her, but she had failed herself.

And slowly, as these thoughts drifted through her mind, they turned to distrust and eventually to a kind of anger. At first, it seemed her resentment was turned outwards, to her friends because they left her when she needed them most; but eventually she realized her anger was indeed turned inwards, towards herself. _She_ was the one who was unreliable…who caused trouble for all the others…

And it was at this point in the circle that the tears would begin to flow. Helpless and an overwhelming sense of loneliness would plague her and force the salty tears to flow. Never in her life had Robin Sena cried this much and it only left her more confused that she started now. She wasn't weak…but she needed someone to comfort her in these unbearably confusing hours of darkness. She wasn't a baby…but…she hated being alone.

---

_Blood…the scent of blood assailed his nostrils, clogging them with it's sharp smell and nearly gagging him…and yet still he moved on…went on with…whatever it was he was doing…which was odd…because ever since he was little, Nagira had hated the sight and smell of blood…_

He awoke with a shout, shirt drenched with a chill sweat and hands trembling. Tears streamed down his face as the last remnants of the dream faded from his mind and he put his face in his hands. Not again…

With a heavy sigh, the tall man glanced over at the little table beside his bed, reading the glowing red digits of his clock and grimacing. 2:36. Groaning, he rolled over and yanked the covers up over his chilled form. Once again, he wasn't going to be free from the nightmares and chills that wracked his body every time he tried to sleep. Once again he was going to get a grand total of about two hours sleep as he awoke again and again with each occurring nightmare.

And yet…he _still_ couldn't remember what it was about them that caused his body to react so. Nightmares were a normal part of anyone's life, yet his had never affected him thusly. And _never_ in his entire 30 years of life could he remember having this many at one time…with all of them being the same. Though he could not remember what went on in his dreams, or even what was causing them, Nagira felt sure that he dreamed the same thing each and every time.

Which only made it all the more weird. Yawning, he closed his eyes and tried his best to mentally steel himself for what he knew was coming. The onslaught of nightmares would grab him in its icy claws once again, and all he could do was pray he would awaken again soon.

---

"Well?! Any changes?!" The long fingers were once again running themselves agitatedly through the short hair.

The interns exchanged glances all around as no one answered.

Dr. Nakano followed their looks, his own eyes narrowing. What were they hiding…?

"T-the nightmares seem to have gotten worse…" A young woman with long black hair finally admitted. "The test subject is suffering physically from lack of sleep."

"Not only that, his dreams give him chills and sweats. In addition to the nausea he feels during the day, he is being assaulted by night as well. It's too much of a strain on his body! If things continue like this…" Another intern continued where the black haired woman had left off.

"If they continue…" The doctor prodded, none too gently.

"He'll die," whispered the young woman.

"Die?" The young doctor's eyes were blank. "Die? That's not possible, my drug is perfect."

The interns exchanged glances again; no one argued with the doctor…but with evidence such as this right in front of his eyes, how could he still manage to convince himself his drug was perfect?

The silence stretched on as Dr. Nakano stared at the glowing computer monitors. Finally, he seemed to snap himself out of his stupor and straighten up. "Well then, if this continues on, we'll have to send in the field teams to do something. Maybe capture him and bring him back here for extensive testing and health care. Keep an eye on his progress; if even the slightest shift occurs, contact me immediately!"

Nodding as a ripple of relief went through them, the interns watched with baited breath as their boss strode away. Once he was out of sight, the breathed a collective sigh of relief; they were still alive. The doctor's infamous temper had been stayed—at least for now.

---

_The body beneath him writhed and screamed…more blood flowed warmly from the young form…His hands gripped fragile arms with brutal strength…her screams grew louder…glancing down…young girl…blood…the screams…he saw…_

His own screams sounding impossibly loud in his ears, Nagira sat up sharply, gripping his head tightly in his hands. The scream continued as pictures flashed through his mind, the fragments of his nightmares finally coming back. The blood, the girl, her screams, it was all returning to his mind in bits and pieces like a puzzle, fitting itself together in a morbid sort of way.

That girl! He had raped her! How could he have forgotten?! The sight and smell of her blood came racing back to his tortured mind and he vomited; how could he have done something like that?! All that blood…his stomach heaved once more, not just from the remembrance of the blood, but the sin he had committed.

How…how…the tears came now, replacing the screams with their burning wetness. Nagira's lean frame shook with the force and power of his sobs. Why…why had he done something like this? And why hadn't he remembered?! It couldn't have been his fault!

But it was. His memory had returned in full force now, and the tall man became beleaguered with the emotions and the memories of all he had done. Whimpers joined the sobs now as his body continued to shake like a leaf in a hurricane. How could he…

Fear grew deep inside of him and suddenly he found himself clutched deep within its iron grip. What if…what if she had gone to the police? What if they _knew_?!

Another whimper escaped. Not only had he committed a crime…he was going to die for it…his tortured mind twisted and turned down paths it normally would not have gone. The lingering traces of the drug in his body warped his normal thought patterns, worsening the shaking of his body and forcing the heaves upon him once more.

As the gray morning light forced itself into the room, Nagira sat huddled amidst a tangled pile of blankets on his bed. Memories, guilt, anger, fear…would he ever be free…?

---

The interns were in a panic. They raced around the workstation, papers flying and computers beeping as frantically as their owners were shouting. "Someone contact Dr. Nakano!"

But at that statement, the young men and women froze. No one wanted to be the person to take the brunt of the doctor's anger by telling him what had happened. And this time, his temper would definitely make itself known, without a doubt.

They continued to look around at each other for the next few minutes or so, no one moving or making a sound. The computers beeped and flashed in the stillness, constant reminders of the heavy decision at hand.

The test subject had remembered…

---

With a grunt, Amon forced the door open, ignoring its creaky protests and wailing hinges. Smothering his anger for the sixth day in a row, he opened the blinds in his brother's apartment and prepared to wake him once more. He put water on to boil and gathered an armful of towels for the sweat he knew his brother would be drenched in.

The dark hunter didn't understand why his brother wouldn't just go to a doctor. He was obviously having some sort of serious health problem, despite what he said, and Amon could see the toll it was taking on his half-brother's health.

But this was not his problem. He would not interfere with the older man's life until it directly affected the problem of finding a home for Robin's baby. This wasn't being cold, it was simply an unspoken agreement of independence between the siblings. Both had inherited it from their father, though neither knew it. It was a family trait that neither wanted to admit linked them in ways they didn't understand.

Kicking open the door to Nagira's room, Amon threw down the pile of towels, opening his mouth to deliver the customary wake-up call.

But, perhaps for the first time in his life, the words froze in his throat.

Blood squeaked beneath his shoes and as his dark eyes followed it back to its source, his mouth finally formed a sound. "Nagira…"

The older man was lying facedown in a pool of blood…his blood…

But that wasn't what had shaken the unshakeable Amon and rocked him to his very core. It was the bloody gun clutched in his brother's right hand.

---

I _did_ mention I was going to have something big happen in this chapter…I never said it was going to be good. Feedback on Nagira's suicide would be appreciated, though I understand it's not going to be good. I'm not quite sure why I decided to have the story take this turn. It was just one of those instances where the plot wrote itself as I went along and kind of grew on its own.

There's really nothing else I'd like to comment on at the moment…I just want to thank the loyal readers who have kept up with this story and continue to give me their feedback and support. Feedback of any support is what fuels us authors on, and I just wanted to thank you all for your comments and encouragement.

Next chapter will be coming soon! That, I can promise!

-SanoGirl


	12. Chapter 11

Miracle:

Chapter 11

---

"Sakaki! Sakaki! Pick up _right now_!"

Groaning, the rookie hunter rolled over and glared blearily at his blinking answering machine. Was it…talking to him? Reaching out a lean arm, he grabbed the phone and put it up to his ear.

"Sakaki!"

Wincing, he glanced at the clock. "Miss Karasuma? Do you know it's 6:30 in the morning?"

"Sakaki," she returned, cutting him off before he had a chance to say anything else. "I need you to come pick me up right now!"

"Pick you up?" The half-awake teen yawned and scratched his shaggy head. "But it's too early for a date…how about 7:30 tonight instead?"

"Stop fooling around and get over here as fast as you can! Amon just called and said he needs something, but my car died yesterday so I can't get to him."

"Oh," was Sakaki's only response.

"So be here _soon_; within the next 15 minutes if possible! Please, Sakaki! It's urgent!"

"Fine, fine," he grumbled, hanging up the phone. "Damn women…I hate them all…" Yanking on a pair of crumpled jeans he found on the floor, Sakaki grabbed his jacket and motorcycle keys before leaving his apartment and heading out to pick up Karasuma.

"She'd better go out with me after this…"

---

The room seemed alive with crackling energy as Dr. Nakano strode from computer to computer, reading data and looking at pictures and clips of live feed on each. His scowl grew wider and wider with each bit he read, and his face grew darker and darker with each bit he saw. A storm was brewing over his head and it was about to burst any minute.

He opened his mouth. The interns cringed.

"He remembered?!" There it was, the infamous wrath of the doctor.

Said doctor stormed around the room, scattering papers and data in his wake, white lab coat swirling around his wiry form. "He's remembered everything?! _Everything?!_"

The interns nodded fearfully, not daring to open their mouths. They knew what happened if you tried to speak while Dr. Nakano was on one of his tirades; the last intern who had tried had disappeared afterwards and come back a few days later with his arm in a cast. Ever since then, no one had dared to challenge him, even on a good day.

"And now what?" He paused. "I _said_: NOW WHAT?! Do we have any more information? What's the recent feedback look like?"

Another fearful glance was exchanged between the interns. The young woman who had been the one to go to the copper haired doctor in the first place trembled and covered her one cheek with a shaky hand. Her jaw was clenched firmly shut and it was obvious to the others that she wasn't going to be saying anything else anytime soon.

Finally, a middle-aged man with graying blonde hair spoke up. "We've lost all contact with the field team, sir."

Feet stopping dead in their tracks, Dr. Nakano whirled upon him, eyes flashing. "Lost contact?! Now this, too?! What the hell is going on here; you all must be slacking off horribly for this to have happened! This project was supposed to be _perfect_!"

The blonde man set his face and answered, "There's no more live feed, sir, and we can't seem to reach any of the five men we had in the surrounding area." The doctor would find out one way or another, and the way things were going, it might as well be now.

Yanking on his hair furiously, the young doctor stopped in his tracks and grew silent. Soon the interns heard him muttering to himself, something he only did when he was in deep, deep thought. "Lost all contact…designed those communicators myself…what could have possibly…no live feed…no contact…"

He continued on like this, chasing his thoughts around in circles for nearly ten minutes while his team cowered around him, dreading another outburst. And in all honesty, they weren't to blame for any of this; of all the people to blame, the doctor should have been blaming himself. He had designed both the drug and the communicators and cameras being used for this experiment, not trusting even this tiny aspect of his life's work to someone else. Consequently, he now had no one to pin the responsibility on.

Finally, he turned, seeming to have calmed down a little bit and snapped his fingers at a young man sitting nearby. "Kaido, get another field team together and take them down to the site as fast as you can. Take another set of cameras and transmitters with you and try to figure out what happened. Reset everything if need be, but don't allow our subject to see you. Wait until you are sure he's gone before you enter his home."

Kaido nodded and dashed off as fast as he could to gather his field team. Fieldwork wasn't the most exciting in the world, but at least it would get him out of the office…for now…

An hour later, a black van pulled out from the Factory gates and drove off deep into the heart of the city, heading for Nagira's apartment.

---

In a screech of tires and thunder of motors, Sakaki skidded to a stop in front of the designated address. He checked the little slip of paper in his hand, reading it by the pale light of the growing dawn, and confirmed they were in the right spot. Turning to face the woman behind him, he gently tugged the helmet off her head and grinned. She looked positively shaken. "Don't you like my driving?"

With a "hmph", Karasuma slid off the motorcycle and ran her fingers through her hair. Sakaki soon joined her, still grinning. "Sorry, Miss Karasuma. I didn't know that was your first time on a motorcycle…"

Shaking her head, the woman moved forward to meet the dark figure striding towards her at an alarmingly fast pace. "Amon?" She questioned, seeing the dark look on his normally stoic face.

"What's going on?" Sakaki asked, also stepping forwards. "Do you know how early it is?!"

Ignoring the rookie Hunter, Amon directed his comments to Karasuma. "There's something I need you to see. Follow me." He whirled without waiting for an answer, black overcoat billowing out behind him.

Exchanging glances, the other two Hunters followed him, Sakaki shrugging his shoulders. They had never seen Amon like this, and it was frightening them. If there was something of a big enough magnitude to shake the immovable Amon, well…it couldn't be good.

Climbing the stairs inside of a normal, if slightly dingy, apartment building, the dark Hunter moved quickly and silently, much as if they were on a hunt. Curious as to why he was acting this way, the other two followed suit, but exchanged another puzzled glance. What was it that he wanted them to see?

Their leader opened the door to one of the apartments and disappeared inside. When they entered the dim room, he hesitated, if only for a fraction of a second, before motioning for them to follow once more, and leading them deeper into the interior.

A knowing sense of anxiety was growing in Karasuma's gut. What was this all about? She had never seen anything get under the hunter's skin like this, and certainly nothing made the great Amon _hesitate_. She could sense Sakaki's unease next to her, as the rookie's hand reached reflexively for the gun that was tucked inside his jacket.

The next room they entered was obviously the bedroom. Stepping to the side, Amon stared grimly at the floor, sensing, rather than seeing, the other two follow his line of sight.

Karasuma gasped, rushing forwards without a second thought and dropping to her knees beside Nagira's body. Sakaki merely stood where he was, eyes now on her instead of the body, watching out for his partner. Amon also stood where he was, face impassive as he watched the younger woman work.

Her hand rested on his brother's chest, fingertips lightly brushing the bare skin. Her eyes were closed and her face tight, as if she were concentrating deeply on something. Sakaki stared, his eyes glittering in the weak sunlight that came from the window, and drank in the sight of his partner at work.

Silence stretched out in the room for a mere few moments, before being shattered by a scream. With a shout of his own, the younger boy dove forwards and caught the woman in his arms, before she fell backwards and landed in the pool of blood beneath the dead man's body. Her eyes were still closed, but this time her face was contorted as if in pain, and soon, tears began streaming down her face.

"What did you do to her?!" Sakaki shouted, turning his helplessness into anger and directing it towards their leader. "You must have known something like this would happen! Why did you bring her here?!"

Now the dark Hunter stepped forwards and settled himself on the bed by the other two, looking down on them with the same unreadable look on his face he always wore. "Despite what you may think, I _didn't_ know this would happen. I knew she would have a reaction, obviously, but not one this severe."

Still seething, the younger man returned his attentions to the crying woman, trying to coax her back to composure. So naturally, he was surprised when Karasuma, still sobbing, threw her arms around his neck and clung tightly to him, mumbling incoherently. Eyes widening, the rookie glanced at Amon, who said nothing and turned his eyes back to Nagira's body.

The sound of sobs now filled the room, and they went on much longer than the silence. But after a while, even those quieted, helped along by the soothing of Sakaki. Amon still focused on the body, almost ignoring the other Hunters.

Finally, Karasuma pulled away from her partner, wiping reddened eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Sakakki…I never…"

"What did you sense?" Amon asked flatly, filling in the quiet after she trailed off.

Pulling away from the younger man now, and moving to sit on the floor far away from the dead man and his blood, Karasuma shuddered. "Pain…much pain and grief and sorrow."

"But Miss Karasuma, that's not much different from what you deal with everyday at the STN-J," Sakaki offered.

She shook her head. "No, this is much worse. Much like…Robin's rape scene…"

Amon twitched, showing the first sign of emotion in a while. Karasuma continued on, apparently not noticing. "Yes, there was anguish and all the things I mentioned before, but…it was something…much deeper than that. Behind all of that was a veil covering something…something that wasn't right. The pain was a mere preview of the deeper suffering inside, and I could only catch a glimpse of it." She glanced up at the other two now, eyes haunted. "This is the same thing as I felt that time. Something's wrong and I don't know how to explain it."

A hush came over the three for the second time that day. The rays of light filtering in through the window steadily grew stronger as each of them sat there, lost in their own thoughts. Only when they reached the far corners of the little room, did Sakaki break the silence by letting out a strangled cry. "A Solomon agent?!"

Whirling around, right hand immediately going to her gun, Karasuma followed his gaze. It was only then that she noticed the slumped black form in the corner. "An agent? But why here?"

Amon stood up, and pulled a small handheld device out of his billowing coat. "I don't know, but I took this for Michael to play with. I want to see what he can find out about this situation. There were several of them surrounding this place." His black look and the _were_ he used hinted at what he had done.

The other two also stood, taking this as their signal that it was time to go and leave this matter to the police. But, to their surprise, Amon yanked the sheets off of the bed and draped them over the man's body before scooping it up in his arms.

"A-Amon?! What are you doing?! You don't even know him!" Sakaki's voice held the same strangled tone as when he had first seen the dead Solomon agent in the corner.

"Yes, I do," their leader replied flatly. "He's my brother." And in a swirl of black fabric, he was gone.

Dumbfounded, the two stared after him, minds spinning from all that had happened in the tiny apartment within the last hour. There was definitely something going on here…something much bigger then either of them could have ever anticipated.

---

"We've spotted motion, sir. There's someone coming out of the building."

The new field team, led by Kaido, moved quickly and silently into position, their communicators held at the ready in case this really was the test subject.

Kaido himself was in direct contact with Dr. Nakano. His communicator was held close to his mouth as he peered intently out at the dark form coming from the building. It appeared to be a tall, younger man carrying a large bundle. A sigh rippled through the filed team. "No good…"

The man drew closer. Eyes narrowing, Kaido leaned forwards, staring at the elongated package he held in his arms. "Something's not right, here," he muttered, shifting to try and get a better look.

And just as he moved into a better seeing position, a gust of wind blew by and ripped part of the covering off of the man's bundle. Choking back a yell of surprise, Kaido fell backwards, his communicator falling to the ground beside him. Ruined…they were ruined…the test subject was…dead…

The earpiece in his ear sounded far away over the sound of rushing blood. "Kaido? Did you see who it was? … Kaido?! Kaido!"

With a trembling hand, the young man picked up the communicator. In a shaking voice, he replied, "Gather up the rest of the team and meet back at the van in ten minutes…we're going back to base." Dr. Nakano wasn't going to be very happy…and that was an understatement.

---

The sheets rustled. The clock ticked. The roar of a motor came from outside.

Sighing, Robin sat up in bed and tossed back her covers. Sleep was eluding her once more, and she wasn't ready to deal with another night of torment from her heart and mind. So instead of sitting there and allowing her thoughts to take her over, the young Hunter slipped into her typical dark dress and left the apartment she shared with Touko, intending on going to the STN-J to see Michael.

The girl heisited at the bottom of the stairwell that led out into the streets of the city. The sun was still hiding behind the horizon and shadows striped the street in crazy, haphazard patterns that seemed to shift and shape before her eyes. She backed up a few steps, moving under the light from the stairwell. Up until recently, she hadn't been afraid of the dark since she was a child, but now any lack of light brought back terrible memories and a resurgence of emotions best left forgotten.

Robin took a few more steps back, deciding to wait until daylight, when she could travel the streets safely. She had wanted to see Michael, to talk to him, but the dark…The youngest hunter chewed her lip some more as the anxiety flooded her as it always did when _that_ memory drew near. But even as the first waves of terror began to roll in, Amon's face appeared in her mind; strong, dependable Amon.

His very presence seemed to calm her and she felt secure, safe around her partner. The reasons were as of yet unknown to the young girl, but she felt more herself around Amon now than anyone else, even Michael. He just seemed to accept her and understand without saying anything, almost as if he knew what she was going through.

Breathing a little easier now, Robin stepped firmly out into the streets, holding herself erect and meeting the world head on as she hadn't in a long time. An almost bold confidence surged through her as the picture of Amon her mind had conjured continued to stay with her. The shadows no longer held any measure of dread for her, so she continued assuredly, arriving at the STN-J on her vespa minutes later.

Michael glanced up, surprised, when she stepped into the room, not only because it was early in the morning, but because the young Hunter hadn't traveled anywhere alone since her rape. "Good morning," he said, motioning to the empty chair beside his at the computer. Before the incident with her rapist, Robin had often come to visit the hacker late at night or early in the morning, when the others weren't there. It wasn't that she didn't like them, but she and Michael shared a special bond—he had been the first one to befriend her when she first came to the STN-J. Because of her frequent visits, he had finally just decided to keep an empty chair permanently by his computer.

Now she sat down slowly, her skirts rustling and stared off into space for a long moment. The hacker, used to such thoughtful silences from the young girl, merely waited, scanning the pages of text on his monitor.

"Why?" The question hung in the air between them, vibrating as if it had a life of its own.

"Why?" Michael repeated, frowning. "Why what?"

"Why weren't you there that night? Why didn't you save me?" Robin's voice was quiet, and she still wasn't looking at the hacker boy. "I called for you, asked for your help, and yet you didn't come. Not even Amon…" quiet tears choked off her voice.

Eyes widened, Michael reached out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and comforting her much like an older brother would his younger sister. "Believe me, Robin," he whispered. "I wish I could have been there, we all do. If we could have been there…we would have been."

It was a long time before the youngest Hunter finally nodded her head in agreement and forgiveness.

He held her as the first rays of sun began to peek over the horizon. "Thank you," she said eventually, pulling back and wiping away the last of the tears just as the rest of the STN-J team strode into the room; Amon looking slightly more grim than usual, Sakaki looking a little dazed, and Karasuma edgy.

"Good morning," Michael greeted them, raising an eyebrow. "Sleep well?"

Yawning so widely his jaw cracked, Sakaki plopped himself down in a vacant seat and blearily rubbed at his eyes. "I would have, but Miss Karasuma called me at 6:30 this morning."

"Oh," the hacker responded, his smug tone giving away the smirk he had barely managed to hide.

"Stop it!" Karasuma interjected. "You know very well it was for work, Sakaki."

"Whatever you say, Miss Karasuma," he replied, grinning cockily. "I'm still free at 7:30 tonight, if you do want to go on a date this time."

But before the two could continue their banter, Amon reached deep into the depths of his black overcoat and yanked out a small, handheld device, tossing it down on the desk in front of Robin and Michael.

Immediately interested, the hacker leaned forwards and picked it up in his deft fingers, turning it around and over, examining every aspect of its exterior.

"What the hell is that?" the rookie Hunter exclaimed.

"Well?" the dark Hunter asked, ignoring Sakaki. "Can you dismantle it and acquire information?"

An indignant snort came from Michael. "Of course I can. It's ingenious, really," he continued, cracking open the outer shell of the device. "As you can see, the inner workings are all wired…"

"I can never understand him when he speaks nerd," Sakaki sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Wake me up when he's done."

But even as the sun set and the day shortened, the hacker was still at work. Amidst a chorus of yawns and goodbyes, the rest of the team made their way home, leaving the young computer genius to his work.

Darkness crept over the room, stretching out its long fingers to envelop the lone form still seated inside. The moon was absent this night, hidden by a veil of thick clouds that hinted at rain and thunder; a few stars bravely pushed through the murky cover, their light twinkling sharply for a moment before being swallowed up by the darkness once more.

Fingers flying, Michael hooked an assortment of wires up to the handheld and linked them to his computer. "Amazing technology…" he breathed to himself, waiting for the stream of data he knew would come.

And when it did come, he froze, fingers stiff on the keyboard, wide eyes reading rapidly through information too shocking to believe. It just seemed to go on and on, as the hacker's eyes flew faster and faster, scanning rapidly and picking out the meanings and plot behind these pages of data. "Amon's not going to like this…"

With that, he hit one last single button on the screen and the whirring and humming stopped. The screen went dark, the only light in the room disappearing. Stretching, Michael got up slowly, his overloaded mind trying to sift through all he had just learned. He had to admit, it was ingenious…but he didn't think that was going to stay Amon's wrath any.

---

Well I think that was my longest chapter yet. (Over 3,000 words!) Sorry about all the reading! But I am happy to announce that next chapter, Zaizen's ulterior motives will become clear! The reason for doing this will all become apparent as Michael, the hacking genius, tells all.

And I'm also going to apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors in this chapter. The chapter is long, it's late at night, and I no longer have a beta. So if you see some mistakes, I'm sorry!

Questions? Comments? Ideas? All are appreciated.

-SanoGirl


	13. Chapter 12

Miracle:

Chapter 12

-

Dawn found the young hacker stretched out on one of the STN-J couches, his breathing irregular and harsh. His sleeping form twitched and his eyes snapped open, taking a moment to register the familiar room around him. Growling, he sat up and rubbed at his eyes roughly; this was thethird time nightmares had ruined his sleep. Slipping his glasses back on, Michael got up from the couch and went back to his computer, hands hesitating over the black keys.

If he turned the computer on…it would be there, waiting for him…the bits and pieces of his dreams. The dismantled handheld device was still hooked up amidst a tangle of wires and Michael found himself reluctant to touch it. It was funny…all the trouble the STN-J and Robin were now going through was contained on that one small piece of technology. So much fuss over such a small thing…

Sighing, he moved away from the seat where he spent nearly all of his time and instead sat himself down in one of the other chairs, absently flipping through one of the many stacks of paperwork that still needed to be read and filed. But his eyes didn't really see the papers, and his sleep-deprived mind didn't really register what was written on them.

When the rest of the team showed up for work later that morning, they found their hacker still sitting in the same place, staring dazedly at the reports.

"Michael…Michael?" Robin's soft voice snapped him out of his daydreaming state.

Jumping a little, he glanced up at her with a foggy look that soon faded once he realized the rest of his coworkers were here, including Doujima. "Ah…good morning…"

"You okay?" Sakaki asked, flopping down in another chair as he always did.

But before the younger boy could answer, though,Amon cut in. "What did you find out from the handheld? Anything useful?"

Michael nodded slowly and a murmur of disquiet rippled through the room. "The entire…story…behind this Nagira guy is on there. And…" he paused, shooting Robin a quick glance, "…the reason for Robin's rape."

She cringed visibly when he said that and the hacker immediately felt a fleeting stab of guilt shoot through his gut. He hated to bring this painful subject back into the light just as it seemed she was beginning to forget, but the startling truth that had haunted his dreams all night was this: Robin's rape and Nagira's suicide were linked together as surely as day and night.

Always the quick thinker, Karasuma replied quietly, "A connection, then?"

Another reluctant nod from the younger teen. Another ripple of uneasiness spread through the room, all eyes now focused on Michael, as he got up and went to his computer, flipping the switch and turning it on for the first time since last night. "I saved everything on here so I can send copies to all your computers," he told them as the machine hummed to life. "But for now I figured I'd outline everything and you can do your own in-depth reading later."

The group tensed impatiently as he finished talking, Robin trembling as she lowered herself into a chair slightly apart from the others. Her abused lip was caught between her teeth once more as she clasped her hands tightly, the knuckles turning white.

The first of the many documents Michael had found appeared on the screen and as the youngest Hunter saw this, a quiet whimper escaped her lips. Sympathetic looks were shot in her direction all around, but before anyone else could make a move, Amon moved to sit next to her in a swirl of black fabric.

Immediately, Robin pressed her face into his shoulder, seeming to calm almost instantly in his presence. The bewilderment displayed on their coworkers' faces was nothing compared to the shock that replaced it when Amon's arm slipped around her slender form and came to rest upon her shoulder. The look in his eyes dared them all to say something about it, but they merely turned away so as to hide the small grins that were threatening to appear. True, they were confused as to why she wasn't afraid to touch Amon, but they figured they would find out soon enough.

Turning back to his computer, the hacker took a few moments more to sort through his pages and pages of data before he started to speak.

"First off, Robin's rape wasn't accidental…it was planned."

The room cringed and Michael shook his head. "Everything was planned out in advance, and the timing was perfect because getting Robin pregnant was also part of the plan."

Doujima emitted a strangled gasp and Sakaki narrowed his eyes. Over the past few weeks he had become much like an older brother to the young Hunter, always looking out for her and giving her rides when she needed them. Now, his temper flared up at this new information as his mind registered its harm to his "little sister". "What kind of asshole would do that kind of thing!" he shouted, slamming a fist down on the table.

"An asshole like Zaizen," Michael replied coolly. The bluntness with which he was telling his team members these things only served to intensify the stark, dire natureof their situation. His lack of technical jargon and habit of dancing around the point—though mainly used to annoy—was frightening.

Another whimper came from Robin as the rest of the room recoiled in horror. No one seemed to notice the tightening of Amon's arm around Robin as he held onto her tighter; if one didn't know better, it could have been called a hug.

After pausing a moment to allow the rest of people in the room to regain their composure, the hacker boy continued his explanation. "You see, the Orbo we use here at the STN-J doesn't always work the way it should. Yes, it helps, but it can't always protect us from the witch we're fighting, especially if that witch is strong. But apparently, as of late, Zaizen has had a team of researchers working around the clock to try and figure out a way around this."

Growing more and more impatient with every sentence, Sakaki finally cut in rudely. "Who gives a damn! What does any of this have to do with Robin!"

"Sakaki!" Karasuma laid a hand on his arm and squeezed it abruptly, none too gently. "If you'd shut up long enough, Michael would be able to tell us!"

Ignoring the outburst from his fellow Hunter, Sakaki glanced down at her hand, then back up. With a smirk that would have put the Cheshire Cat to shame, he put his own on top of hers. Face flushing, the woman yanked her hand back quickly and turned away from the rookie Hunter, staring determinedly at the Michael's computer screen.

"Thank you, Karasuma," he said dryly. "Anyway, as I was saying, Zaizen's been looking for ways to work around the Orbo, or to improve it. But it seems thatnothing's been working for him as of late; each one of his experiments failed, and a lot of his agents died. So he turned to something else a little more _potent_ to solve his problems. He turned to gentics."

"Genetics?" Doujima asked, her voice shaking slightly. "But what's so special about Robin's genes? She's a Hunter! Just the same as all of us!" Her sweeping gesture took in each one of them around the room.

"And that's where you're wrong!" Michael exclaimed, sounding slightly pleased with himself, despite the situation. "You see, the baby wouldn't be composed of soley Robin's genes. Only half of the full set of chromosomes comes from the mother. The other half…comes from the father."

"Chromosomes…he's speaking nerd again…" Sakaki muttered to Karasuma, the edge of his lips barely skimming across her ear. The flush that had just begun to fade on the older woman's face came back full force and she swung one hand back to smack the rookie lightly on the chest.

Seeming not to notice, the young hacker continued his spiel; he was in full information mode now and nothing could distract him when he was like this. "So really, Robin's genes _are_ important, because she has strong powers." Here he paused and glanced around. "The rest of us aren't able to offer our genes because half of us are male and, as far as we know, Doujima doesn't have any specific witch hunting powers. While Miss Karasuma's power is strong, hers is unique and really wouldn't serve Zaizen in his quest to eradicate the witches of the world."

"Go on," Sakaki prompted, as the teen paused, most likely for breath.

To everyone's surprise, it was Robin who spoke up next, not Michael. "Who's…who's the father?" All heads turned to face her as she turned away from Amon's shoulder so her voice could be heard. "Who did this to me?" Unexpectedly, there was no hesitance in the young girl's voice—it seemed she truly wanted to know who had raped her.

Instead, it was the hacker who paused, his blue eyes hesitant as he looked from Robin to Amon to his computer and back.

"Just spit it outalready, damn it!" Sakaki exclaimed, finding himself once again restrained by Karasuma's hand on his arm.

Looking away from both Robin and Amon, Michael finally answered in a low voice, "It was Nagira…the man Amon found dead yesterday."

Only Doujima remained unaffected by this information, as she didn't know what had happened yesterday. In a synchronization that would have been comical if the situation wasn't so serious, Karasuma and Sakaki turned wide-eyed looks upon Amon.

"Nagira?" Robin chewed her lip a little. "But what's so special about that man?"

"He's Amon's-" Sakaki began, before being smacked into submission once more by his partner. "Ow…"

Confused, Robin glanced up at Amon, who was staring at nothing, his eyes blank. He wasn't letting it show on the outside, but the news had shocked him—really shocked him—down to the very core of his being. He didn't remember ever being thrown off-balance like this…except when his mother's powers awoke and turned her into a witch.

"Amon?" The pleading in the youngest Hunter's voice, and the trust, forced the dark Hunter to look down and meet her gaze; his eyes softened.

"He's my brother."

This time, it was Robin's turn to fix a wide-eyed stare upon the leader of their team. Michael still refused to look at them, as he put his head tiredly into his hand. The silence in the room was louder then any noise could have ever been and it was only broken when Robin chose to speak again. "Y-your…brother?"

The last word was no more then a whisper and, to Amon, it seemed as if her tone of voice broke his heart even more then finding out who it was that had raped her. "Yes…Nagira was my half brother. We shared the same father." His arm grew limp and dropped from her shoulder. For the first time since she had turned to Amon for comfort, Robin pulled away from him.

The way he used past tense to talk about his brother caused Karasuma to look away as the memories of the emotions she had sensed on his body came flooding back to her mind. "But…why? Why Nagira?" Sakaki finally asked, ever the curious one. "And anyway, how could Zaizen force him to do this? Did he bribe him? Blackmail him?"

With a sigh, Michael glanced up. "This is where it gets really twisted. In answer to your last few questions, no, Zaizen do not bribe nor blackmail Nagira. He controlled him by other means. You see, if word of this ever leaked out, Solomon would be the one to blame, and that would ruin our boss." The sarcasm in his tone was unmistakable.

"He thought it would be better if there was no one on the outside who could give them away."

"Why didn't he just get someone to do the job, and then kill them?" Sakaki interjected, his curiosity still getting the better of him.

"He had a scientist who specialized in medicine and pharmacology, who told him he could make the perfect drug. One that was capable of both controlling the victim and leaving him with no memories of the situation."

"Drugs…" Robin murmured, her stomach giving a lurch.

Michael shook his head. "No, there were no drugs put into you, Robin. The drug was contained in Nagira's body and that of his 'controller'. Now before you ask any questions Sakaki-" the hacker held up a long-fingered hand. "Let me explain. To say that he was creating the perfect drug is inaccurate; it wasmore like he was creating the perfect _drugs_. Because as we all know, Nagira obviously had no motivation for raping Robin, and wouldn't have under normal circumstances. But then the drug came into play."

Here he turned to his computer and brought up a few still shots of what appeared to be Nagira's apartment. "Here, you can see that Zaizen had the Solomon agents sneak into his apartment and set up cameras around the rooms. It's most likely that this is the point at which they slipped the drug into his food, or beer, or whatever."

At the word 'beer', Amon snorted.

"I can pretty much guess how Amon got this handheld off of the agent…and what he did to the others in the area…" Michael's voice was dry.

Amon snorted again.

"Meanwhile, back at Solomon, someone else, probably a hired underling of Zaizen's, took another drug, which was a mirror image of the one in Nagira's food. When he came home and ingested the drug, it would automatically link him to whoever was the 'controller' back at Solomon; from then on,his mind and body were no longer his own."

Karasuma shivered slightly at this point and instinctively moved a little closer to Sakaki.

"You see, the drug linked their brainwaves, taking control of the victim's nervous system, and synchronizingit with the 'controller's'. So, all the Solomon agent had to do was think of raping Robin, and Nagira's body would answer, much like a puppet."

Silent tears were working their way down Robin's cheeks by now and she turned her face away from everyone else in the room before they could notice. Michael's frankness had struck something deep inside of her yet she knew this was really the only way for him to get this out. She just couldn't believe…

"Except it wasn't perfect," Michael continued. "For some unknown reason, Nagira began to remember things and his health started to decline—probably because remnants of the drug lingered in his body. After he finally remembered everything…" The hacker trailed off, knowing what had happened yesterday.

Amon, who, up until this time, had been staring intently at the wall, turned to Robin and frowned slightly.

"But why Nagira!" Sakaki asked again, his impatience coming back full force.

"Simply put, Nagira was a Seed. His father was a witch, or a Seed,thus his powers got passed down to Nagira. Whether or not they have awoken is irrelevant, because all that is needed in this situation is the genes. The genes for his power…the genes that Zaizen needs to replace his usage of Orbo." He looked at them over the rims of his glasses. "Nagira had the power to resist the Craft. That was his own twisted version of it. To make a long story short, if someone with the Craft were to attack him, his body would reject it and it would end up doubling back on the user."

Now it was Karasuma's turn to ask a question. "You said he chose Robin because of her strong powers…but that doesn't make sense. If the power he is trying to duplicate is that of _resistance_ to the Craft, then why give the child half the genes of someone who's obviously very gifted with it?"

"Well, as far as the Craft is concerned as far as genetics go, it is usually the power of the father that turns out dominant, if both parents happen to have them.On the off chancethat the baby turned out to have Robin's powers, it might still have a slight resistance to other people's Craft, as well as having a very strong gift of its own. So, by crossing Robin's genes with Nagira's, Zaizen is assuring himself ofa win-win situation; either way, he would end up getting a strong Hunter to aid him in exterminating witches. So if the baby had Robin's Craft alone,all he would have to do would be to get Nagira to impregnate Robin again for another try."

Robin flinched.

Amon's frown deepened as he turned back to the hacker. "My brother was a Seed?"

Michael nodded. "Apparently, yes. You said you share the same father, didn't you know that he had witch powers?"

"I wouldn't have expected Nagira to have witch powers, he never showed any signs of developing them." The dark man stopped for a moment, seeming to catch himself about to say something secret, before he regained poise and continued.

"Our father wasn't around when we were growing up," Amon answered flatly. "Frankly, Nagira and I didn't see that much of each other either when we were children. When our father separated from his mother, she took Nagira with her and father moved on to my mother. He left, or died, before I could remember him, and my mother didn't like to talk about him much.

As he was explaining all of this, Robin had once more rested her gaze upon him. The chill way in which he told this story sent shivers down her spine; it was as if he were a block of ice, detached from all feeling and emotion. She wondered what had happened to him to cause him to be this way…and she wanted to know more. She wanted to know Amon better.

Finishing his tale, Amon sat back in his chair and looked over at Robin. Finding her tear-stained face staring at him, he looked away again, gruffly handing her a handkerchief. He had seen the look in her eyes…and he didn't like it. All his life the tall Hunter had avoided telling people about his past because it always evoked the same emotion in all of them: pity. And pity was something Amon hated. He didn't need it, it certainly didn't help him in his life, and, therefore, he wouldn't give it to others.

Now this logic may have been twisted, but it was the only thing that had kept him alive up until this point in his life. It had given him something to lean on, a reason for becoming strong, so that he would never again have to deal with pitying people and their well-meaning sympathies.

"Of course Nagira didn't show any signs of developing powers!" Michael exclaimed, his voice slightly reproving. "His power was _resistance_ to the Craft!"

Sakaki smirked. He loved it when Michael proved others wrong…so long as it wasn't him being proven wrong.

"After the birth, Zaizen was going to take the child and raise it at Solomon. His ultimate goal would be to train it and use it as the perfect witch-hunting machine. He could then use both Robin and her child to create more of these Hunters, until he had enough to safely replace the Orbo with."

"That's sick," Doujima spat.

"But it's true," Michael replied. "Yes it's sick, but the truth remains that this wasn't accidental and that as soon as Robin's baby is born Zaizen plans to take it from her."

Immediately Robin's arms curled tightly around her belly. Amon caught sight of this, then nodded in approval at Robin's next words.

"He can't have my child." It was strange…even after all she had just found out, even though her head was spinning, Robin found herself unable to even think of parting with her child. It was an intense love-hate relationship between her and the unborn baby, her love coming from theinstinct that she was its mother, and her hate stemming from the fact that the child served as a constant reminder of what had happened to her.

She wanted the baby because it was her own. She didn't want to keep it merely for the sake of preventing Zaizen from turning it into a killing machine; she simply wanted it because it was a part of her, _her_ child that shewas giving lifeto.

"Do we know who was controlling Nagira?" Doujima asked, disturbing the silence that had once again taken hold of the room after Robin's poignant words.

Orange hair went flying as the hacker shook his head. "And that's what really strikes me as odd. The data and photographs give us all the information about the project except who the controller was. This could be for one of two reasons, the first being that hesimply wasn't important enough, just a hired boozerthat they could count on to rape an innocent girl."

"Reason numbertwo?" Karasuma prompted.

"It was someone _so_ important, that it would endanger the entire project to put his name in the files. Someone who didn't want his identity nor his role in all of this known. Possibly even Zaizen himself."

Sakaki wrinkled his face at the hacker's last comment.

"Either way, the name's not in there, but we've found out basically everything else. The question now is: What are we going to do about it?"

This time, the silence stretched out over minutes, hanging in the air heavily, like a dense fog.

"We'll go after the bastard," Amon finally replied quietly, looking up from his study of the floor tiles. "We'll hunt Zaizen down and find out who it was that made this drug and inflictedthis on Robin. Then…" he trailed off ominously as the rest of the team shot him perturbed looks.

"Kinda like what happened to those Solomon agents…right?" Sakaki asked, fighting to keep the quiver out of his voice.

But Amon didn't answer and silence once again descended upon the roomful of Hunters as each became lost in their own thoughts.

-

Oh my… That was a lot of typing…This chapter's even longer then the last one! But there was just so much to explain! Even now, I'm sure I've forgotten little details here and there and as each one becomes apparent, I'll correct it or explain it in future chapters.

I know the ending must have seemed abrupt, but seeing as how the chapter was already eight pages long with over 3,500 words…I figured it was time to stop.

I would really love to hear your feedback on Zaizen's plans and motives, whether negative or positive. (So long as it's constructive!) Let me know about any gaps in the plot or corrections, etc. And I am going to get this betaed—I swear!—but I figured you wouldn't want to wait any longer so I posted it while still in the rough.

So I'm going to let you go, seeing as how you're probably tired of reading by now. Please review!

-SanoGirl

Updated: 5/3/05-Betaed Version


	14. Chapter 13

Ok, here's the deal folks: Once again, I've lost my beta reader. (Seems I'm having horrible luck with them, eh?) So I'm reposting this chapter after I've read it over a few time and made some corrections. Hopefully everything will flow a little better now, though I can't say for sure because I don't have a beta! But anyway, sorry about the confusion, I hope you enjoyed (or will enjoy) this somewhat short chapter.

* * *

Miracle:

Chapter 13

* * *

It was a long time before any of the STN-J members moved again. But slowly, surely, they began to drift away, each still lost in his or her own thoughts, and began to embark on the journey home. The sun slanting through the windows was barely at its apex, yet they trickled from the building like sand through a sieve.

Robin was the first to rise, her pale face set as if determined not to show tears or emotion of any sort until she was safely alone. Still in a daze, Sakaki flitted his gaze towards her, then started to rise to take her home. But for the second time that day, he was cut off by Amon, who stepped behind the youngest Hunter and seemed almost to prod her towards the door.

Instead, the rookie turned to his female partner and shook her out of her own stupor by offering to take her home. Nodding silently, Karasuma rose and drifted out behind Amon and Robin, barely glancing around her. Doujima soon followed the rest of the group, her pretty face twisted in a disconcerting scowl. Michael nearly chuckled as he watched her leave; he had never seen Doujima think so hard before.

Turning back to his computer, he clicked a few buttons, sending copies of the data to each member's computer before shutting his own down. He didn't want to have to look at the horrible data any longer; it was bad enough he had spent all morning talking about it.

Getting up from his computer chair, the hacker went to the window and stared out at the shimmering blue sky, a soft grunt escaping his lips. Somewhere, out under the huge, indigo expanse of heaven, was the man behind all of this…the man who headed Zaizen's project and carried out all of his dirty work. He was out there…

Pressing the tips of his long fingers up against the glass, Michael growled low in his throat, resting his forehead on the cool pane. Never before had he wanted to leave the STN-J building so much.

* * *

The tires slowly ground to a halt and the awkward silence now seemed even louder. Shifting uncomfortably, Robin bit down on her lip hard and continued to stare out the window.

"Your apartment," Amon said, trying to remind her that now was the part where she got out of the car. Her very presence was making him uneasy. Now that it was known to her that his brother had been her rapist, things were rapidly going from bad to worse. Even before today he had been unsettled by her every time she entered the room—ever since the rape. Just by her being in the same room as he was, he found he could no longer keep his eyes away from her; a sense of protectiveness, almost, filled him…and he wasn't quite sure why.

The blonde Hunter merely continued to sit where she was, staring at her hands now.

"Robin."

At the sound of her own name, one lone tear slipped from her eyes and traced a glimmering path down her cheek, eventually falling onto her clenched hands.

Unsure of what to do, Amon tried what he had done before, and slipped an arm lightly around her shoulders.

At the first touch of his arm against her, Robin turned and pressed her face into his strong shoulder, taking deep shuddering breaths. "Why…me?" she whispered, almost so soft as not to be heard. "Why…why…"

That one syllable seemed to contain all the grief and all the pain she had held inside of her for so long. That one tiny word, so heavily laden with anguish, somehow managed to worm its way into Amon's frozen heart. He felt a small flame kindle amidst the ice, and for some unknown reason, he reached out with his other arm and pulled her into a full embrace.

Trembling a little at the contact, but not pulling away entirely, Robin slowly, ever so slowly, brought one of her own arms up and wrapped it loosely around his neck. She kept her face pressed against the blackness of his overcoat, hoping somehow that the darkness before her eyes would somehow swallow her up and take her away from here.

It was Amon who flinched this time as he felt the weight of her hand and arm across his back. He could not remember the last time he had been touched by someone like this. It was a foreign sensation to him, as were many of the emotions trying to push their way into his walled enclosure of a mind. Frustrated with all these things he could not understand, Amon tried all the more to shove them out of his head.

And by the time his attention was brought back to the girl in his arms, she had fallen asleep, her face smooth and angelic, with faint lines on it from where she had buried it in Amon's coat.

Grunting, the dark hunter turned and wrenched open the car door, awkwardly stepping out with his precious bundle held close. Kicking the door shut behind him, he mounted the stairs that led to Touko's apartment and banged on the door lightly with one elbow, so as not to wake the sleeping Hunter.

Touko's pretty face peered out and her doe brown eyes widened when she saw who it was. "Amon? And Ro"

But a glare from the tall man quieted her as did the sleeping face of Robin as she was carried into the small front room. Without even bothering to kick off his shoes, Amon stepped into the actual apartment and took her over to the couch, setting her down as gently as if she were made of glass. He straightened and remained where he was, staring down at her as if trying to fathom what he had done.

The dark Hunter didn't even realize how long he had been standing there until a polite throat-clearing from the other woman brought him back.

"Is she…?"

The unfinished question dangled in the air between them like pure electricity, crackling and spitting. Amon blinked once, twice, his gaze now fixed on the brunette instead of the blonde.

"I want to know, Amon, is Robin your"

But she was cut off by a swirl of his black coat as he turned to leave. "What I do is none of your concern," he said flatly.

Slightly put out, Touko answered, "But it used to be."

"No, it didn't. What I do and what I don't do are strictly my own decisions. Leave Robin out of this." And with that as his parting statement, the Hunter left much as he had come, swiftly and silently.

For a long time, the slender brunette remained rooted to her living room floor, staring at the entryway as if in deep thought. '_You're right…what you did with your life was never my concern. I never knew anything about you beyond your name and your job at my father's company. You were always so seemingly cold, and yet, upon rare occasions, I would glimpse something inside of you…something that cried out for love and company. But I see now that I am not the one to give you those things…_'

Her gaze now fell upon the sleeping form of Robin, whose usually immaculate blonde hair was now falling down and settling in waves around her head. '_What you see in her, I don't know. She's too young for you, Amon…she's not the person to give you the happiness you need. If I could not give it, I don't know how she can…_'

With pursed lips and a furrowed brow, the older woman left the room, her heavy thoughts chasing circles in her mind, even as the dark Hunter drove further and further away.

* * *

"WHAT! WHAT ARE YOU TELLING ME!"

Fighting to keep the anger off of his own face, Dr. Nakano bowed slightly to the irate man before him. "It is as I said, sir, the test subject"

"I heard you, fool! Now what is this about the project! You're going to continue!" Zaizen stared down his employee from behind his desk of steel.

"Yes sir, we've already made plans"

"PLANS FOR WHAT! Your test subject is _dead_!"

Tired of being cut off, Nakano paused a moment before answering, mentally willing himself not to snap back at the old man. "Yes, but that doesn't matter anymore."

Sitting back in his chair, Zaizen's glare turned deadly cold. "Oh really…is that so? You see, I was under the impression that the purpose of this project was to make me an army of Witch Exterminators! And somehow, I just can't see you doing that without the test subject!"

Gritting his teeth, the young doctor responded, "But _sir_, as I said, we don't need the test subject anymore. You see, my scientists have discovered another we may use. Someone…better…"

* * *

Sorry this chapter is so short, it just seems I have nothing more to add to this chapter. I specifically wanted to leave off right at this "cliffhanger", so there's really nothing else to add…I promise, the next one will be longer.

In fact, I really don't have much to say at all for this chapter, except reviews are greatly appreciated, as always! (Come on people, let's shoot for 300! )

SanoGirl


	15. Chapter 14

Miracle:

Chapter 14

* * *

The darkness wrapped around the man like a cloak, his features indistinguishable as he strode down the street at a brisk pace. Several shadows followed him at a distance, always remaining out of sight in the dim alleys and doorways of deserted buildings. Their goggles gleamed every so often in the weak moonlight, but other then that, they were invisible, dressed in dark gray and black, much as their target was.

The man they were following sped up his pace a little, almost as if he knew he was being followed. The stalkers smirked beneath their dark helmets; fool, they weren't here to harm him, not tonight. Tonight was merely an information-gathering excursion, purely investigative. The rest would come later…once they had completed their mission.

In a swirl of fabric, their target disappeared around a corner. Motioning to the others, the leader slipped ahead, rounding the corner first, eyes already searching for the man.

But before he could even get a clear picture of the side street he was now on, the barrel of a gun appeared before his eyes, accompanied by the sound of a bullet being fired.

His lifeless body fell to the pavement amidst a pool of its own blood.

Hearing the shot, the rest of the team sped up and skidded furiously out into the street, guns coming up at the ready. Three more methodical shots and their bodies joined that of their leader's on the street, dark blood mingling on the glinting pavement.

Stuffing the small revolver back into the depths of his overcoat, Amon turned away and rounded another corner, heading back the way he had came…heading back home.

* * *

The sound of a kettle hissing awoke Robin and she opened her eyes to find Touko standing over her with a cup of tea. "Good morning," the other woman said in her quiet way. "I made tea."

"Thank you," Robin answered, sitting up and finding herself still in her rumpled black dress from yesterday. Taking the offered drink, she tossed her hair out of her face and sipped at it cautiously, watching as white steam curled up from the dark surface to mingle with the air.

"How are you feeling?"

Jumping a little at the sudden question from the other woman, Robin glanced up and forced one of her usual smiles. "Just fine, thanks…did I sleep all day yesterday?"

Touko nodded, watching as the young Hunter blew on her tea and glanced at the clock. "Amon brought you home before the work day was even over. Is something wrong?"

Unsettled by the probing question from the brunette, Robin stole a glance at her slender form and sipped at her tea to buy herself some time. But the scrutinizing stare from the other woman never wavered. With a sigh, the blonde girl put down her cup. "No…it's just…"

Touko waited.

"I just found out the reason for…the reason for my…" the young girl's mouth seemed to have a hard time forming the word 'rape'. "…reason for…"

A sudden wave of sympathy washed through the older woman, Amon or no Amon. Here before her was a girl half her age, dealing with problems she herself would never have to be put though. Nodding in understanding, she rose from the chair opposite the couch and came to sit near Robin, noting her slight flinch at another body's warmth. "I see," she said quietly, taking it all in with her calm gaze.

Robin watched her carefully; unsure of what was coming next. Touko had always been kind to her, giving her a place to stay and food to eat, but she had never been overly friendly. Deep inside, Robin had a feeling this had something to do with her close connections to Amon. While she had never seen the two of them intimately together, the young Hunter knew that, at one point or another, her roommate and coworker had been connected. Whether the romantic feelings were mutual, or one-sided, she did not know, but the past connection did exist.

"That's why Amon brought me home…no one was really working yesterday…and…" The small clock Touko kept hanging on her wall by the door chimed, drawing both women's gazes. "I'm going to be late!" Robin exclaimed, jumping up and trying to smooth both her hair and her dress at once.

Also rising, the brunette watched as her younger roommate yanked back her hair and slipped into the hideous pink coat she had been wearing of late. "I'll see you later, Touko," she said, and slipped out the door. Truth be told, she had heard the faint rumble of a car engine below, and was hoping to find Amon waiting for her.

With a stifled sigh, the older woman watched her go. So much to deal with…she should feel more then just a little sympathy for the girl. But…the truth remained…her and Amon…And that was something that Zaizen's daughter just couldn't overcome. Robin's relationship with Amon, no matter what it may be, was irksome to her; it was this irritation, this nagging feeling, which formed the dam that was holding back her feelings of deeper compassion for Robin. No matter how hard she tried to break free and forget…Amon stood between them.

* * *

A dark form resembling a billowing shadow met her halfway down the stairs and she stopped just short of bumping into the man before her. Dark eyes met hers from the stairs below and she inclined her head in greeting, still not quite able to manage a smile. Not yet.

Returning the nod with one of his own, Amon turned and continued back down the stairs, sensing rather then seeing, Robin's slight form following him. Her footsteps were soft as they had always been, but now they seemed to hold an element of irregularity, as if she paused every so often without reason, waiting for something. Caution emanated from her like quiet from a graveyard, and even her breathing seemed baited.

Grunting slightly as he opened the door of the car for the younger Hunter, Amon took the time to look her up and down, taking in her crinkled dress and hastily done hair. It seemed she had once again slept away an entire day.

Calculating all of this, but saying nothing, he joined her inside the car and started the engine, turning the vehicle towards the STN-J building.

* * *

He could feel it: another migraine coming on. Rubbing his temples tiredly, Dr. Nakano took a few deep breaths, trying to prepare himself for the task at hand.

Things just seemed to be going from bad to worse. His first test subject kills himself, and now his second test subject kills his field workers.

He had sent out a team early last night with instructions to shadow the man called Amon and discover what they could about him. Work habits, sleep habits, irregularities in his demeanor, anything. But dawn had broken and there was no sign of his team, and no response from their communicators. Wonderful.

He rubbed his temples harder, convinced now that if Zaizen allowed him to see his 30th birthday, his hair would be a lovely shade of pale gray.

"Sir! We've located the team!" The techie who spoke was young with a shock of red hair and a sprinkling of freckles that only made him seem younger. " All four members, found together in the entrance to an alleyway on 6th! It appears they've been dead for quite some time now.

"It's about time! Tell the boys to bring in the bodies for examination." So they had been discovered early on in the night. That wasn't good. He had sent one his best teams after this man called Amon, the supposed half-brother of his earlier test subject. They would not have allowed themselves to be discovered so easily…which could only mean one thing. This Amon knew what he was doing. And he was good.

Shoving the pain of his oncoming migraine to the back of his consciousness, the young doctor began barking orders at an alarmingly fast rate, all the more determined now not to have something go wrong with his precious pet project. If it took all the men he had to track the new subject and gather this information—so be it! Umeda Nakano was not a man to give up easily, at any cost.

* * *

The words hung stark before him, shimmering slightly on the computer's iridescent plasma screen. Mouth agape for the second time in as many days, the young hacker merely stared at it, a wide range of emotions flickering over his face. Disgust was most predominant, overshadowing even the horror and terror he felt at discovering such a thing.

"Sick bastard…"

"Who?" Sakaki's voice reached his ears from across the room accompanied by a cheerful whistling.

"Zaizen," Michael muttered, eyes still glued to his screen.

"Knew that already, it's you who has to come to terms with it," the rookie replied, chuckling as he peered over the other boy's shoulder.

But his mirth was cut off sharply as he too took in the new information suspended in black and white on the computer screen. Reeling back in a mixture of surprise and revulsion, the Hunter cried out, "That's twisted!" His hand flew to his mouth as if to suppress the urge to vomit.

"Knew that already, it's you who has to come to terms with it," Michael replied gravely, fingers already beginning to flit faster over the keys. "Make yourself useful and round everyone up as they come in. It's going to be a long day in the meeting room…"

* * *

Well everyone, it seems I'm getting at least a little better at writing my chapters faster! Unfortunately, it's probably only temporary…seeing as how it's testing week at my school, I really don't have any homework, or any work at all, to do. But alas, our tests only last a week, and after that it's back to the daily grind, with finals looming on the horizon.

But anyway, concerning the chapter, most of you were right in assuming it was Amon who was to be the next subject. I guess you could kinda see that one coming, huh? But hopefully, the little cliffhanger I put in at the end of the chapter here threw you for a loop. Kind of a "how could things possibly get ANY worse!" type situation. Believe me—they can.

On a better note, I would just like to take a quick second to mention my latest obsession, as I am always searching for others out there who can help me in my quest for knowledge…Anyone here like Kpop? Specifically DBSK? (Dong Bang Shin Ki…or Gi…maybe some of you know them by their Chinese name, TVXQ?) Anyways, I'm completely obsessed with these guys, so if any of you have good websites or media downloads or whatnot, please let me know!

SanoGirl

By the way…

I now have over 300 reviews on this story! Thank you guys SO much, you have no idea how wonderful this feels. "Miracle" is my most popular (and longest!) story so far, and I can only hope it continues to live up to your expectations! Thank you again!


	16. Chapter 15

Well, since my beta reader's e-mail address doesn't seem to be working, I'm posting this un-betaed! So please forgive any mistakes until I can get everything straightened out. Enjoy Chapter 15!

* * *

Miracle: 

Chapter 15

* * *

"I mean and I still don't understand it, it's almost like he—What! What's wrong with you, you look like you've been to hell and back!" Doujima's tirade was cut off mid-sentence by Sakaki as she entered the STN-J building with Karasuma in tow, the older woman patiently listening as she ranted. "Excuse me, we're trying to get into work, in case you hadn't noticed." Annoyed now, Doujima tried to shove her way past the rookie Hunter. 

Shaking his head firmly, Sakaki continued to block their path, his pale face grave. "Michael wants everyone in the meeting room stat. There's something new we need to discuss."

"A new lead?" the older of the two women asked, forgetting about Doujima's story entirely.

Pouting a little, the blonde girl crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Sakaki. "And just what's so important that Michael has to ruin my morning for it!"

"Yes, Miss Karasuma, there has been a new development, concerning Zaizen, but that's all I'm allowed to say." Without sparing Doujima another glance, the rookie proceeded to lead Karasuma towards the meeting room, not noticing the small smirk the crept across the other girl's face as he did.

Deciding her morning wasn't entirely shot after all, the blonde girl followed her two co-workers slowly, watching as their heads came together while they talked, voices lowered. Doujima's smirk widened.

"Cute, aren't they?"

Glancing over, Doujima saw the hacker looking at Karasuma and Sakaki with a wry grin on his face. She nodded, smothering a giggle with her hand. "But I don't think they realize it yet."

Robin and Amon stepped into the room at that point, ending the conversation between Doujima and Michael. Seeing Robin still wearing the pink coat she had lent her, Doujima grinned and said, "Pink suits you Robin, it really is your color."

Smiling back for what must have been the first time in several weeks, Robin replied, "I'm not so sure I agree with you Doujima, but thank you for letting me borrow it. Touko promised to take me shopping for a new one soon, so I'll be able to give it back in a few days."

"Come on," Michael cut in, getting up from his computer. "I need you all in the meeting room now, before we start any of the day's hunts. There's been a new development." His tone was grim as he said this, and Amon's face twitched slightly, taking this in.

"A new development?" he queried, deep voice betraying no emotion whatsoever. But the hacker had caught the telltale spark in his eyes when he mentioned a development and his astute mind took note and catalogued his reaction.

"Yes, something I think you all should see." He continued towards the meeting room, talking and continuing his story as they went. "I was doing a little bit more hacking last night after you all went home and early this morning, thinking there might be some new twist in the project after Nagira's death."

The group entered the room to find Karasuma and Sakaki already sitting down and waiting for them. The two still had their heads together, but they quickly moved apart as the rest of the STN-J team entered the room; Karasuma's cheeks were a delicate shade of pink as Doujima took a seat next to her with a grin that would have put the Cheshire Cat to shame.

Michael took his place at the head of the table, sitting down and typing at his computer for a few minutes, humming softly with the absence of his headphones. His fingers fairly flew over the keys as his eyes scanned the screen, finding what he needed and sending it to the other Hunters' computers when done. Sitting back, he let out a long breath and looked around the room at the expectant faces watching him.

"What I just sent you is the latest bit of information I could dig out of Solomon's computers. But what makes this piece so important is it came from one of the most heavily protected databases in the Solomon computers; which means, it was top-secret, something that the underlings probably don't even know."

Simultaneously, the screens around the table lit up as the information reached them, popping up on the display and drawing the attention of all the STN members save the hacker and Sakaki. Exchanging a dour look, they simply sat back and waited for the reaction they knew would be coming shortly.

Amon was the first to show any sign of a response, his one large hand slamming down flat on the table so hard it made the monitors jump. "Damn him!" he shouted, startling everyone else in the room. Never had they seen such a display from Amon…

"I think I'm going to be sick," Doujima whispered, sitting back and placing one hand over her mouth. "That's…"

"Disgusting…" Karasuma finished her sentence, eyes narrowed as she read the last little bit of information. "I didn't even think that was possible…"

"Well, apparently it is," Sakaki replied dryly.

Robin was the only one who hadn't said anything as of yet, and soon all eyes were drawn to her slight form as it sat, completely still, next to Amon. Green eyes stared at the screen in disbelief as her slim hands lay limp in her lap. Glancing over, Amon took a deep breath and removed his hand from the table, surreptitiously placing it over Robin's own. She immediately glanced towards him and nodded a little, as if to say she was trying her best to take it all in stride.

"So what exactly does this entail?" Karasuma finally managed to ask, her voice still faint. "What could this possibly mean?"

Michael immediately switched to information mode, his voice professional and his tone serious. "Basically, what Zaizen is doing, is using the very same Orbo we use here at the STN for himself. But he's not afraid of witches or their powers, he is a afraid of something even more frightening: death. So instead of using the Orbo to protect himself from the Craft, he uses it to protect himself from death."

"So that mean's he's…" Doujima trailed off as her pretty face twisted itself into a grimace.

The hacker nodded. "Zaizen is using the Orbo to prolong his life. You see, in my research last night, I happened to come across a document detailing the process of making Orbo. Apparently it's another piece of information Solomon wants to keep top-secret. The Orbo we use is actually created from the witches that are sent into the Factory that we hunt." His own face contorted a little as he said this, the basic instinct of disgust overriding all professionalism.

"What this means is Zaizen is putting Orbo into his body to keep himself alive longer so he can see the completion of his 'witch hunting army'." Sakaki picked up where the other boy left off. "Babies take a lifetime to grow up—obviously—which is an amount of time Zaizen definitely doesn't have. So he takes Orbo shots on a weekly basis to preserve his body and allow him to build his team and exterminate the race of witches."

Silence reigned supreme for the next several seconds as everyone sat lost in their own thoughts, their already overloaded minds trying to process this new development.

"That is so wrong…" Doujima shuddered. "And to think…all this time we've been sending the witches into the Factory thinking they were going to be treated or something…"

Karasuma's hand absently strayed to her neck, slender fingers stroking the spot where the Orbo cross usually hung from. "It's going to be hard to go out hunting now," she murmured. "Now that we know what is truly happening to those witches."

"Yes, but they're just witches," Sakaki interjected.

"True, they are Craft-users, but in a basic sense, they too are a species of man just like us." Michael's voice cut in softly, but with a steel undertone. "No matter what you are, the things Solomon does are cruel and perverse—I don't care if you're a witch, human, or something else. What they do to those witches shouldn't be done to anyone."

Taken aback a little, the rookie Hunter sat back in his chair and stared at the table, lost once more in deep thought.

Michael was once again scrolling through his pages of information and as he did so, something caught his eye, which made him stop with a wry grin. "Do you know what he's calling his little operation? Project Purgatory. Always a flair for the dramatic…"

He glanced over at Robin to find her hand, with Amon's still covering it, resting on her lower abdomen. Her face was set with a strength and determination that the Hacker hadn't seen there since before the days of the rape. A small smile touched his lips as he saw the way she seemed to draw strength not only from the dark man next to her, but from a secret source hidden deep within herself, from a place not even she knew that much about. It was a relief to have even this small fraction of the old Robin back.

"Well…what are we going to do?" Doujima's big mouth and ever-present curiosity got the better of her as she grew tired of the silence.

"That was the other purpose of this meeting," Michael replied. "We need to at least get an idea of what we want to do about all of this, before things get too out of hand. I came up with a few ideas last night, so let's run through them and see what you guys think…"

* * *

Chapter 15…wow…it's been a while since I last wrote and I want to thank you all for your patience. The reviews are wonderful and helpful as always and things are progressing now a little better then I had hoped. 

So…what about Zaizen? Feedback on his little "scheme" and the position of him as such an evil character would be appreciated. Someone commented to me that I shouldn't be using him as the bad guy all the time as he _is_ just a Solomon underling. Plus, they told me that someone has to play the bad guy, and that lot just happened to fall to poor Zaizen. What do you guys think?

Thanks again for all your continued support! Hopefully I'll be out with Chapter 16 a little quicker then this one…

SanoGirl

Oh…and Golden-Sama…how could I ever say no to the puppy face?


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